3   1822  01268  0005 


Wi 


.ECT0RE5  AND  ADDRESSES 


CIJ  X/I  r^ACK 


^^C        Ly/.^cAy-^  ^^ <^^ 


Lectures  and  Addresses. 


WILL  CUMBACK, 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 


JOHN  CLARK  RIDPAXH.  LL.  D. 


CINCINNATI : 

Printed  for  the  Author  by  Cranston  &  Curts. 

1894. 


Copyrifiht 

BY   WILL  CUMBACK, 

1892. 


MARTHA    H.  CUMBACK, 

anb  mg  I^augljfEr, 

EliLA  J.   LOVEXX, 

ant)  mg  ;§on, 

WILL  CUIVIBACK, 

This  Book  is  Affectionately  Dedicated. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
INTRODUCTION,  by  John  Clark  Ridpath,  LL.  D.,  .  .    .       7 

THE  PUBLIC  LECTURER, 27 

THE  INVISIBLE  SOME  PEOPLE, 52 

THE  COMMON  MAN, 95 

LIFE'S  GREAT  CONFLICT, 121 

OUR  NEIGHBORS, 146 

THE  REIGN  OF  KING  BOGUS, 176 

A  SUCCESSFUL  LIFE, 203 

THE  DOCTOR, 227 

PUBLIC  OPINION, 247 

CONFUCIUS  AND  SOLOMON, 269 

CHRISTIANITY  AS  A  CIVILIZING  FORCE, 297 

THE  DE:MANDS  and  DANGERS  OF  THE  TIMES,  .    .  321 

SELF-CULTURE, 347 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  ODDFELLOWSHIP, 365 

DECORATION-DAY 387 

DOMESTIC  SANITATION, 406 

POLITICS  AND  SANITATION 416 

WELC0:ME  ADDRESS, 427 

:\IETHODIST  FRATERNITY, 440 

ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS,  Y.  M.  C.  A,  CINCINNATI,  .  448 

THE  METHODIST  PREACHER, 454 

N.  P.  BANKS 460 

THE  TOAST— THE  CITIZEN  SOLDIER, 467 

THE  TOAST— OUR  GUEST, 476 

LIBRARY  PRESENTATION 479 

5 


INTRODUCTION 


AMONG  the  offices  of  friendship  none  is  more 
agreeable,  none  more  consistent  with  the  better 
parts  of  our  intellectual  and  spiritual  nature,  than 
that  which  suggests  the  introduction  of  an  author's 
book — gift  of  his  brain  and  heart — to  the  public  by 
some  one  of  his  associates.  In  such  a  case  esteem 
and  aifectionate  regard  are  the  sentiments  which  in- 
spire the  choice,  and  to  a  large  degree  determine  the 
character  of  the  product.  It  is  as  if  friend  should 
accompany  friend  on  the  sunny  morning  of  his  mar- 
riage-day, walking  at  times  a  few  steps  before  him, 
and  giving  him  a  hand,  if  somewhere  the  path  be 
narrow,  and  saying  at  the  door  of  the  crowded 
church,  "  This  is  our  guest,  the  groom." 

It  is  a  sentiment,  a  motive  such  as  this,  which 
provokes  the  present  introduction,  and  gives  thereto 
whatever  value  and  appropriateness  it  may  possess. 
For  a  long  time  the  writer  of  the  same  and  the  author 
of  this  volume  have  journeyed  much  together  in  the 
far-reaching  highways  and  byways  of  the  mortal  life. 
Each  has  known  the  other  up  to  the  period  of  ma- 
turity ;  each  has  seen  upon  the  head  of  the  other  the 
vertical  sun-rays  of  the  noontide  pour  down  straight 
from  a  nearly  always  cerulean  skyj  each  has  wished 
well  to  the  other;  and  now  it  is  the  office  of  the  one 

7 


8  Introduction. 

to  say  a  few  words  by  way  of  introducing  the  book 
of  his  trusted  friend  to  the  public, — it  is  an  office 
gladly  performed,  and  in  every  sense  delightful. 

Some  of  the  relations  of  Book  and  Introduction 
are  these:  No  introduction  can  make  a  book  of  some- 
thing that  is  not.  No  book  can  be  created,  or  even 
be  born  again,  by  what  another  may  say  about  it. 
There  is  nothing  more  absolute,  nothing  more  inde- 
pendent, nothing  that  more  completely  is  or  is  not 
than  a  book.  Many  things  are  factitious.  They  are 
made — caused  to  be.  Contrivance,  as  it  respects 
many  human  enterprises,  goes  very  far;  but  a  book 
is  essential;  that  is,  it  is  a  thing  of  its  own  essence 
and  life.  If  it  have  no  essence,  no  life,  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  can  be  given  thereto  by  any  extra- 
neous agency.  If  a  book  is,  it  is.  If  it  is  not,  why 
then  the  deep  saith.  It  is  not  in  me,  and  the  sea  saith, 
It  is  not  in  me. 

True  it  is,  however,  that  while  an  introduction 
may  not  make  the  book,  or  to  any  considerable  de- 
gree conduce  to  its  existence,  it  may  mar  it.  It  is 
one  thing  to  make,  quite  another  thing  to  mar.  The 
office  of  an  introduction  is  to  say  to  the  world : 
"  This  is  a  book.  It  has  certain  qualities  and  worth. 
Take  it  and  read  it,  and  you  shall  be  better  thereby," — 
to  say  this,  and  to  say  it  well,  appropriately,  mod- 
estly, firmly,  as  one  would  introduce  his  friend  in  a 
public  assembly.  But  suppose  the  introduction  be 
bad  in  matter  and  form?  How  greatly,  in  that  event, 
will  the  effect  be  marred !  How  great  the  difference 
between  the  introduction  good  and  the  introduction 
indifferent,  mouthy,  and  maudlin — dreary,  and  devoid 
of  delicate  taste ! 


Introduction.  9 

Of  the  book  and  the  introductiou  to  the  book 
this  other  thing  also  may  well  be  said:  that  the 
former  is,  in  many  instances,  the  only  source  of  merit 
and  meaning  to  the  latter.  Indeed  it  is  well  that 
the  introduction  should  derive  its  life  and  sense  and 
sentiment  wholly  from  the  thing  introduced.  Here 
again  the  analogy  is  from  the  office  of  friend  and 
friend  before  the  public.  When  the  great  man  comes 
to  the  country  town,  it  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  small 
man  to  introduce  him  to  the  assemblage.  What  a 
day  that  is  for  the  small  man !  And  how  the  great 
man  must  secretly  and  silently  smile — not  indeed 
upon  the  visible  face,  but  around  the  heart  within — 
at  the  manifest  illumination  and  brief  glory  of  him 
who  makes  the  introduction !  In  such  case  also 
stands,  many  times,  the  writer  who  essays,  by  words 
of  exposition  and  eulogium,  to  send  off  the  book  of 
his  friend  on  its  unknown  voyage. 

Custom  has  exacted  the  introduction.  As  for  the 
book,  that  is  born  of  the  spirit.  It  may  well  sur- 
prise to  note  how  all  things  are  clad  about  with  a 
certain  penumbra  of  form  and  formality.  Usage 
takes  the  living  thing,  and  clothes  it  in  this  way  or 
in  that.  How  strong  is  habit — habit  in  the  individual 
first,  in  society  next,  and  in  all  history  finally !  The 
modern  book  is  the  result  of  an  evolution  which  has 
been  at  work  from  the  time  when,  in  remote  conti- 
nents and  inconceivably  distant  ages,  men  first  began 
to  record  and  transmit  their  thoughts.  History,  with 
her  viewless  fingers,  has  wrought  at  the  production  of 
the  book  with  as  much  interest  and  constancy  as  she 
has  wrought  at  the  problem  of  government,  at  the  in- 
stitutions of  religion,  at  the  structure  of  language, 


10  Introduction. 

and  much  more  than  she  has  ever  wrought  at  the 
building  of  temples  and  pyramids  and  tombs. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  book  precedent  has  given 
much.  Current  custom  has  contributed  not  a  little. 
The  fitness  of  things  has  added  its  sum.  So  that  at 
last  the  book  has  come — the  book  of  paper  and  of 
print,  uttered  in  our  land's  language,  formulated  and 
devised  into  chapters  and  paragraphs,  made  according 
to  usage  and  fashion,  bearing  not  only  its  subject- 
matter,  but  its  style,  and  hailing  the  reader,  first  of 
all,  with — an  Introduction. 

What,  then,  shall  we  say  in  the  way  of  introduc- 
ing this  volume  to  the  public?  First  of  all,  it  is  ap- 
propriate to  give  to  the  author  personally  such  words 
of  praise  as  his  life  and  work  in  the  great  society  of 
the  West  have  so  richly  deserved.  Few  men  have 
won  a  larger  or  more  enduring  place  in  the  esteem 
and  aifection  of  the  people  than  has  Will  Cumback. 
His  acquaintance  is  as  broad  as  the  magnificent 
country  in  which  for  nearly  forty  years  he  has  been 
one  of  the  principal  actors. 

It  was  the  fortune  of  the  writer  of  this  volume  to 
be  launched  into  public  life  at  the  age  when  most 
men  are  still  reckoned  as  boys.  Scarcely  had  he 
passed  his  majority  until  he  was  already  a  distin- 
guished personage.  Elected  to  Congress  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-five,  he  was  at  once  thrown  into  con- 
tact with  the  leading  men  of  the  Nation.  He  arose 
with  the  dawn  of  that  great  day  which  was  to  witness 
the  renovation  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  par- 
ticipant in  that  hot  and  victorious  struggle  which  re- 
sulted in  the  election  of  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  to  the 
Republican  speakership  of  the  House  of  Representa- 


Introduction.  11 

tives.  The  event  was  the  driving  down  of  the  first 
strong  stake  in  the  new  pavilion  of  human  liberty ; 
and  it  is  to  the  everlasting  honor  of  the  author  of 
this  volume  that,  young  as  he  was,  he  was  one  of 
those  who  helped  to  drive  the  stake  and  stretch  the 
first  cords  around  the  sacred  place  which  was  to  be 
dedicated  to  the  freedom  of  all  men  and  the  perpe- 
tuity of  the  American  Union. 

Since  his  first  introduction  to  public  life,  Will 
Cumback  has  been  almost  constantly  in  the  conspic- 
uous view  of  the  people.  This  is  said,  not  only  of 
the  people  of  his  own  State,  but  of  all  the  States 
west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Few  men  have  been  more 
abroad  than  he.  In  the  trying  ordeal  of  the  war  his 
life  was  as  busy  and  useful  as  that  of  his  great  con- 
temporaries. His  work  as  paymaster  of  the  army 
was  one  of  the  most  serious  and  severe  ordeals  of 
those  days  of  unmeasured  responsibilities  and  fiery 
tests  of  virtue.  Through  his  hands  passed  in  pay- 
ment to  the  soldiers  who  fought  our  battles  more 
than  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
trial  his  accounts  were  so  clear  and  correct  as  to  elicit 
the  unstinted  and  exceptional  praise  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  any  extended  biograph- 
ical notice  of  the  author  of  the  present  volume ;  but 
we  can  not  forbear  to  emphasize  the  extent  and  va- 
riety of  his  acquaintance  with  his  fellow-men,  and 
the  degree  of  their  confidence  which  he  enjoys. 
There  is  hardly  a  considerable  town  in  all  the  West 
where  his  figure  is  not  known,  where  his  voice  has 
not  been  heard.  His  life  has  been  pre-eminently  that 
of  a  public  man,  whose  thoughts  and  principles  and 


12  Introduction. 

conduct  alike  have  been  known  and  read  of  the 
people. 

In  a  time  when  seclusion  has  almost  vanished,  and 
when  private  life  itself  lias  been  well-nigh  abolished 
by  the  illumination  of  the  press  and  the  curious  scru- 
tiny of  modern  society,  Colonel  Cumback  has  walked 
abroad  with  the  proud  step  of  a  fearless  and  invul- 
nerable sjjirit.  His  manners  and  disposition  have 
won  upon  the  affectionate  regard  of  his  fellow-men 
at  the  same  time  that  his  abilities  as  a  writer  and 
speaker  have  commanded  their  respect  and  admi- 
ration. 

It  is  one  of  the  striking  peculiarities  of  our  age 
that  its  thought  and  its  affairs  no  longer  draw 
asunder.  In  modern  life  the  thought  and  the  affair 
are  blent  together.  Ideality  no  longer  floats  adrift 
in  one  direction  and  business  in  another.  They  are 
combined  rather  as  spirit  and  substance  in  the  same 
character.  Life  lias  been  unified  by  the  incorporation 
of  its  best  thought  in  its  best  action.  One  of  the 
most  promising  and  interesting  features  of  the  age  is 
the  marriage  of  thought,  of  literary  ability,  with  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  an  active  public  life. 

The  history  of  England  wathin  the  present  cen- 
tury furnishes  many  conspicuous  examples  of  men  of 
that  particular  type  which,  if  we  mistake  not,  must 
prevail  more  and  more  hereafter — the  type  which 
combines  within  itself,  on  the  one  hand,  scholarship, 
information,  mental  power,  and  literary  activity,  with 
the  serious  and  severe  discipline  of  official  life  and 
duty  on  the  other.  The  intellectual  and  public  his- 
tory of  Great  Britain  would  shine  with  greatly  abated 
luster  if  the  names  of  Macaulay  and  Bulwer,  of  Dis- 


Introduction.  13 

raeli  and  McCarthy  and  Gladstone  were  stricken 
away.  These  men  conspicuously  represent  the  brill- 
iant class  of  literary  statesmen — one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive, fascinating,  and  valuable  types  of  manhood 
known  to  modern  history. 

In  America  this  type  is  unfortunately  less  preva- 
lent than  in  England.  There  has  been  in  our  country 
a  strong  disposition  on  the  part  of  a  coarse  and  igno- 
rant public  management  to  keep  itself  divorced  from 
the  higher  intelligence,  and  in  particular  from  the 
literary  genius  of  the  American  people.  In  a  country 
where  every  man  is  supposed  to  be  in  some  sense  a 
politician,  it  must  needs  be  that  the  many  can,  with 
the  power  of  the  ballot,  combine  to  exclude  from 
trust  and  reputation  the  more  gifted  and  accom- 
plished sons  of  the  morning.  It  is  at  once  the  hard- 
ship and  the  disgrace  of  the  Republic  that  it  runs  in 
this  direction. 

The  domination  of  party  thus  becomes  the  enemy 
of  the  intellectual  life  in  all  of  its  manifestations. 
The  party  does  not,  and  will  not,  think.  The  batter- 
ing-rams of  the  Romans  did  not  think.  They  were 
not  intelligent.  A  catapult,  whether  for  throwing 
stone  or  throwing  mud,  has  no  thought.  It  has 
neither  perception  nor  conscience.  Whatever  force 
of  mind  stands  behind  it  and  operates  its  brutal  ma- 
chinery, is,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  coarse  and 
low,  as  selfish  and  sordid  as  the  machine  itself.  The 
modern  party  is  a  battering-ram  of  sheer  force,  a  cat- 
apult of  personal  interest  and  revenge — a  thing  of 
violence  and  destruction,  subserving  the  purposes  of 
civilization  only  in  the  sense  that  physical  evil  may  be 
said  to  contribute  to  the  moral  welfare  of  the  world. 


14  Introduction. 

Notwithstanding  the  adverse  conditions  present  in 
our  country,  that  form  of  intellectual  life  which  com- 
bines itself  with  public  activity  has  been  displayed  in 
instances  not  a  few.  Among  our  public  men  there  is 
a  considerable  measure  of  literary  aspiration.  Some 
have  risen  so  high  as  to  understand  that  literary  fame 
is  the  most  truly  immortal  of  all  human  monuments. 
The  great  leaders  of  our  armies  have  contributed  by 
their  pens  to  that  glorious  record  in  which  the  story 
of  the  American  Civil  War  and  its  gigantic  issues  is 
written  for  posterity.  The  real  leaders  of  public  af- 
fairs— not  the  ostensible  figure-heads  of  American 
life — have  shared  this  ambition  so  conspicuously 
present  in  our  generals.  If  Grant  and  Sherman 
and  Sheridan,  Johnston  and  Longstreet,  have  written 
of  those  immortal  events,  quarum  pars  magna  fuerunt, 
so  in  like  manner  have  Benton  and  Sumner,  Seward 
and  Cox  and  Blaine,  transmitted  themselves  and  their 
work  to  posterity  by  their  writings. 

Will  Cumback  has  been  a  publicist  of  this  class. 
His  education  and  youthful  ambitions  might  well  have 
led  him  into  the  broad  and  open  field  of  literature. 
Cast  as  he  was  into  public  life,  the  refinements  of  let- 
ters remained  with  him,  combining  with  his  active 
and  arduous  duties,  and  painting  an  aureole  around 
his  whole  official  career.  During  the  eighteen  years 
of  his  official  life  he  wrote  much  and  well  on  many 
subjects.  Writing,  with  him,  so  far  from  being  an 
irksome,  mechanical  task,  has  been  a  delightful  passion. 
In  the  intervals  of  official  duty  he  has  ever  found  an 
agreeable  occupation  with  his  pen. 

The  personal  sympathies,  likewise,  of  the  author  of 
this  volume  have   drawn  him  to  literary  pursuits  and 


Introduction.  15 

literary  affiliations.  His  companionshiji  and  confi- 
dence have  reached  rather  to  men  of  letters  and  to  the 
work  in  which  they  engage  than  to  those  with  whom 
office-getting  and  office-holding  are  the  principal  pur- 
suit. He  is  better  and  more  widely  known  among  the 
intellectual  classes  than  he  is  even  in  the  official  cir- 
cles of  public  life. 

At  one  time  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Indiana, 
Colonel  Cumback  strongly  identified  himself  with  his 
office.  As  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  he  became 
henceforth  affectionately  known  to  the  people  of  his 
own  State  and  throughout  the  country  as  Governor 
Cumback.  This  title  has  been  fondly  cherished  and 
perpetuated  by  his  friends.  It  seems  to  have  been  a 
case  in  which  the  appellative  fits  the  man.  The  title 
has  remained  with  him  as  an  honorable  and  respectful 
sobriquet,  which  the  public  will  not  willingly  let  die. 

These  are  but  glances  at  the  life  and  character  of  one 
of  the  best-known  and  most  highly  appreciated  of  our 
Western  public  men.  Governor  Cumback  has  always 
had  a  passion  for  public  speaking.  To  speak  is,  with 
him,  so  natural  as  to  constitute  almost  a  necessary 
part  of  his  every-day  life.  His  career  for  many  years 
has  been  essentially  that  of  a  lecturer,  a  platform 
orator,  a  maker  of  addresses.  The  wave  of  public 
success  has  carried  him  in  this  relation  into  almost 
every  State  of  the  Union.  It  is  thus  that  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  American  people  has  been  broad- 
ened and  deepened  until  it  is  almost  universal. 

Very  few  men  upon  the  public  platform  of  to-day 
have  addressed  so  many  audiences  on  so  many  occa- 
sions, with  so  great  success.  For  him  as  an  orator,  the 
graces  of  his  style,  the  merits  of  his  subject-matter, 


16  Introduction. 

the  magnificence  of  his  voice,  and  the  irapressiveness 
and  dignity  of  his  presence  on  the  rostrum,  have  com- 
manded universal  admiration  and  applause.  In  his 
character  of  lecturer  he  has  traveled  from  Passama- 
quodd)'^  to  San  Diego,  and  from  St.  Augustine  to  Port 
Angeles,  addressing  as  large  and  intelligent  audiences 
as  have  honored  almost  any  orator  of  the  day.  As  a 
man  of  the  lyceum  and  the  platform  his  life  has  been 
pre-eminently  successful. 

It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  we  obtain  one 
of  the  best  estimates  of  Governor  Cumback^s  abilities, 
dispositions,  and  genius.  He  has  evidently  been 
moved  in  the  activities  of  his  recent  years  by  the  pas- 
sion of  being  a  public  teacher.  This  has  been  the  pre- 
vailing motive  in  determining  his  career  on  the  plat- 
form. He  has  had  the  instincts  and  purposes  of  a 
man  of  the  university — we  may  say  the  University  of 
Life.  He  has  sought  to  teach  from  the  rostrum,  not 
so  much  to  instruct  technically  by  the  exposition  of 
a  given  theme  in  science  or  the  arts,  but  rather  to  in- 
culcate and  enforce  some  principle  of  human  conduct 
tending  to  reform  and  the  betterment  of  the  age. 
This  is  the  secret  of  his  inspiration  as  a  man  of  the 
platform,  and  the  sufficient  explanation  of  what  con- 
stitutes the  major  part  of  this  volume. 

Let  us  say  that  all  public  speech  in  our  age  derives 
its  true  value  from,  and,  if  we  mistal^e  not,  exerts  its 
true  influence  by,  the  ethical  quality  in  it.  The  his- 
tory of  the  American  lyceum  is  full  of  interest.  The 
study  has  a  large  value  to  the  student  of  philosophy 
as  well  as  the  student  of  mere  affairs.  The  lyceum  in 
America  began  its  work  with  the  public  exposition  of 
scientific  subjects.     At   the  first   the   lecturer  was    a 


Intr  od  uction.  17 

teacher  of  science,  explaining  by  means  of  written 
manuscript,  diagrams,  and  charts  the  philosophical 
import  and  governing  laws  of  some  group  of  natural 
phenomena.  From  this  the  range  of  topics  was 
widened  to  include  social,  industrial,  political,  and 
finally  religious  subjects. 

The  platform  at  length  became  a  fact  in  American 
civilization.  The  lyceum  as  an  institution  was  rajjidly 
developed.  Lecturers  arose  by  the  legion.  The  ros- 
trum swarmed,  first  with  celebrities,  then  with  speakers 
of  the  middle  class  of  talent,  and  finally  with  the 
small — even  the  microscopic.  Lecturing  grew  sud- 
denly into  great  public  favor.  It  was  the  fashion  of 
an  epoch.  Every  town  had  its  hall,  every  village  its 
platform  and  its  course. 

We  may  not  speak  lightly  of  that  age  in  our  history 
which  thus  brought  forth  so  abundantly  of  public 
speech.  In  a  democratic  country  such  an  institution 
as  the  lyceum  must  needs  flourish  with  a  sudden  blos- 
soming and  an  abundance  of  green  fruit.  But  we 
should  not  fail  to  note  the  great  impulses  in  American 
public  opinion  which  were  started  and  driven  like 
ocean  waves  by  the  stress  and  wind  of  the  rostrum. 
He  who  had  aught  to  say  might  arise  and  say  it. 
Could  he  persuade  his  fellow-men  that  he  was  right, 
he  found  a  following.  Could  he  discover  an  issue  of 
genuine  human  interest,  then  he  found  a  cause.  He 
might  be  contradicted  freely  by  another  whose  opinions 
clashed  with  his  own.  The  commotion  thus  produced 
was  one  of  our  fruitful  sources  of  intellectual  growth. 
The  phenomena  which  we  here  describe  antedated  the 
Civil  War,  ran  parallel  therewith,  reached  a  climax  in 
the  seventh  decade,  and  then  began  to  sink  away. 

2 


18  Introduction. 

The  close  student  of  our  intellectual  history  as  a 
people  will  have  noted  the  decline  of  the  lyceuni. 
For  a  score  of  years  the  platform  was  the  rage  of  the 
winter-time.  No  other  fact  in  our  current  life  gained 
greater  attention  and  popularity  than  that  form  of 
public  address  known  as  lecturing.  The  reaction 
came  afterwards.  Several  of  our  great  lecturers  dis- 
appeared from  the  stage.  Among  the  new  aspirants 
only  a  few  had  in  them  the  elements  of  greatness  and 
strength.  A  revolt  of  public  sentiment  against  the 
lyceum  came  coincidently  with  that  severe  contrac- 
tion of  our  currency  which  passed  under  the  high- 
sounding  name  of  the  resumption  of  specie  payments. 
Hard  times  and  a  pessimistic  generation  followed  in 
the  wake,  and  for  a  while  it  seemed  that  the  lecture- 
platform  was  extinct. 

For  seasons  not  a  few  the  time  went  by,  and  the 
lecture-course  seemed  to  be  a  forgotten  fact  in  so- 
ciety. The  appearance,  however,  was  fortunately  de- 
lusive. The  platform  had  not  passed  away,  but 
was  undergoing  repairs !  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  had 
been  broken  down  by  the  superincumbent  pressure 
of  the  small.  The  structure  which  had  been  able  to 
sustain  two  or  three  Titans  in  the  war  epoch  had 
given  w^ay  under  an  aggregation  of  diminutives. 
Such  things  happen  in  the  intellectual  carpentry 
of  the  world.  The  rostrum,  however,  was  not 
wrecked,  but  only  rendered  untenable  to  the  people 
of  Lilliput.  A  new  lyceum  arose  in  place  of  the 
old — more  rational,  more  permanent,  less  abounding 
in  sensations,  less  pyrotechnic  and  iridescent,  but 
better  lighted  with  the  lamp  of  ethical  truth  and  the 
radiance  of  enduring  day. 


Introduction.  19 

It  was  out  of  this  historical  and  intellectual  con- 
dition that  the  material  of  the  present  volume  was 
evoked.  Governor  Cumback  is  one  of  the  products, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  ornaments,  of  the  new  lyceum. 
He  belongs  to  the  age  of  public  speakers  who  are 
the  survival  and  residue  of  the  larger  and  less  useful 
class  that  were  stranded  when  the  old  lyceum  became 
a  wreck. 

The  new  lyceum  rises  and  flourishes.  It  has 
borne  as  one  of  its  principal  fruits  the  lectures  and 
addresses  which  compose  the  subject-matter  of  the 
present  volume.  This  is  a  book  of  public  speech. 
It  is  the  echo  caught  from  the  utterances  of  one  who, 
in  the  character  of  a  teacher,  addresses  his  fellow- 
men  from  the  platform.  It  is  the  gathering  up  of 
a  bundle  of  sheaves — of  summer  sheaves  not  yet 
quite  yellowed  with  the  autumnal  frost — from  the 
fresh  harvest-field,  still  smelling  sweet  with  the  fra- 
grance of  golden  wheat  and  new-cut  stubble. 

In  this  field  the  wealth  of  the  gleaner  lies  here  and 
there.  It  is  rimmed  about  with  the  glorious  woods. 
The  strong  fence,  built  by  brawny  and  honest  hands, 
divides  it  from  the  unreclaimed  forest  beyond,  and 
protects  it  from  the  inroads  of  lawless  creatures. 
Above  are  patches  of  sunny  cloud  and  the  blue  cur- 
tain of  an  infinite  sky;  and  in  the  stubble  here  and 
there  the  mother  quail  have  built  their  nests  or 
gather  about  the  shocks  of  heavy  grain  their  broods 
of  da])pled  offspring. 

In  the  following  pages  the  author  has  discussed 
many  of  the  most  important  questions  of  the  day. 
This  is  a  book  of  social  science.  It  deals  with  so- 
ciety.    It  recognizes  the  virtues  of  society  as  well  as 


20  Introduction. 

its  faults  and  foibles.  Society  is  the  theme.  It 
echoes  and  re-echoes  in  all  these  addresses,  and  is  the 
key-note  of  the  whole.  The  author  himself  is  nothing 
if  not  social  in  his  prevailing  sympathies  and  yearn- 
ings. Hardly  does  he  lift  up  his  voice  without  ad- 
dressing his  thought  to  the  existing  social  estate. 
He  sees  behind  the  present  form  and  aspect  of 
things  another  form  and  aspect  more  perfect,  more 
sublime.  He  appeals  from  the  existing  condition  to 
the  ideal ;  not  indeed  to  the  unattainable,  but  to  that 
better  and  nobler  condition  of  things  toward  which 
every  true  and  thoughtful  spirit  reaches  as  towards 
a  goal. 

It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  these  lectures 
and  addresses  must  be  read  and  understood  in  order 
to  be  appreciated.  The  author  is  an  ethical  teacher. 
As  to  the  moral  purpose  of  what  is  here  written  there 
can  be  no  mistake.  The  whole  purport  and  signifi- 
cance of  this  volume  is  an  appeal  for  right  and 
truth,  for  reform  and  fraternal  good-will  among  men. 
The  author  addresses  himself  not  less  to  the  con- 
science than  to  the  understanding  of  his  auditors. 
AVe  say  auditors  rather  than  readers,  for  in  these 
pages  the  audience  is  ever  present.  The  speaker  is 
here.  The  people  are  gathered.  It  is  evening.  The 
hall  is  lighted.  The  subject  is  announced.  Attention 
is  commanded.  The  theme  is  touched,  and  turned, 
and  viewed  from  many  angles,  but  always  in  the 
manner  of  the  orator.  Take  away  this  element  from 
the  book,  and  the  spirit,  the  soul,  of  it  departs. 

Of  all  books,  perhaps  the  orator's  book  is  most 
alive.  The  orator  writes  with  his  audience  ever  be- 
fore   him.      There    is    the    sea  .of    upturned    faces. 


Introduction.  21 

Here  is  the  rostrum.  The  sceue  is  set.  As  his  pen 
moves,  the  vision  is  constantly  before  liim.  Such  a 
book  has  only  two  of  the  grammatical  persons — the 
first  and  the  second.  The  tliird  is  wanting.  The 
author  does  not  speak  of  men,  of  principles,  of  things, 
so  much  as  he  speaks  to  the  living  intelligence  of 
his  fellow-men  gathered  and  warmed  with  his  pres- 
ence and  the  sound  of  his  voice.  It  is  you  and  /, 
and  only  rarely  tliexj  and  it. 

It  is  in  this  spirit  and  with  this  intent  that  Gov- 
ernor Cumback  has,  in  the  following  pages,  taken  uj) 
many  of  the  most  important  topics  of  modern  society. 
He  has  discussed  them  with  the  sense  of  a  philoso- 
pher and  the  soul  of  a  philanthropist.  These  Lec- 
tures and  Addresses  have  been  especially  effective  as 
one  of  the  motive  forces  determinative  of  the  public 
opinion  of  our  day.  The  honesty  and  candor  of  the 
principles  expounded  in  these  pages  can  no  more  be 
doubted  than  the  ability  of  the.  writer  or  the  cogency 
of  his  argument. 

The  strongly  moral  tone  pervading  every  chapter 
and  paragraph  of  this  volume  distinguishes  it  widely 
and  laudably  from  the  majority  of  books  composed, 
as  this  is,  of  popular  addresses.  The  average  orator 
is  prone  to  trim  his  sails.  The  motive  for  doing  so 
is  stronger  with  him  than  with  the  recluse  of  the 
library.  The  orator  would  fain  please,  as  well  as  in- 
struct and  persuade.  He  would  fain  have  the  ap- 
plause, as  well  as  the  admiration,  of  his  auditors.  But 
the  auditors  are  not  always  in  the  right.  In  in- 
stances not  a  few,  the  ethical  teacher  must  set  himself 
firmly,  unyieldingly  against  the  time-honored  preju- 
dices and  profound   bias   of    them   who  hear.     The 


22  Introduction. 

temptation  of  the  public  speaker  to  yield  a  little  for 
the  sake  of  favor  is  very  great. 

Particularly  is  this  true  in  the  case  of  one  who  has 
taken  large  part  in  public  life.  The  political  leader 
must  of  necessity  assume  the  leadership  by  standing 
at  the  head  of  the  column  aud  shouting  a  command 
which  is  but  the  unexpressed  voice  of  the  phalanx. 
In  a  country  devoted  to  democracy,  this  motive  and 
policy  are  stronger  than  in  any  other.  To  meet  the 
temptation  squarely,  to  face  the  wrong  when  it  is 
popular,  to  cry  aloud  and  spare  not,  to  utter  the  truth 
because  it  is  the  truth,  to  dare  unpopularity  and 
detraction  for  the  sake  of  a  righteous  cause, — all 
these  argue  in  him  who  does  it,  not  only  a  large 
measure  of  courage,  but  that  peculiar  moral  courage, 
the  lack  of  which  is,  if  we  mistake  not,  the  intellect- 
ual and  ethical  weakness  of  our  age  and  country. 

A  careful  perusal  of  these  Addresses  will  show  no 
moral  flaw.  They  are  absolutely  impervious  to  the 
base  mildew  which  appears  as  applause  to-night,  but 
spreads  as  a  canker  and  mold  in  the  morning.  Vainly 
will  the  pessimist  seek  to  find  in  this  volume  a  line  or 
word  that  does  not  ring  on  the  moral  counter  wath 
the  clear  resonance  of  the  unalloyed  coin  of  the 
realm.  Though  in  many  places  the  author  traverses 
established  opinions,  attacks  intrenched  abuses,  does 
not  hesitate  to  strike  with  keen  sarcasm  some  hoary 
respectabilities  which  still  dominate  modern  society  to 
its  hurt,  he  never  for  an  instant  forgets  his  attitude 
as  a  teacher  of  morality  and  truth.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  merited  praise  of  this  volume  that  its  tone,  its 
purpose,  its  end  and  aim,  can  in  no  wise  be  mistaken. 

The  major  portion  of  the  subject-matter  of  this 


Introduction.  23 

volume  has  already  been  heard  by  thou.sands  of 
people.  These  Addresses  have,  in  their  spoken  form, 
been  received  with  applause  on  many  occasions  and 
in  many  States.  The  same  matter  is  now  trans- 
muted into  literature  projDcr.  In  the  literary  dress 
the  volume  goes  to  its  trial  at  the  hands  of  the  silent 
reader.  It  may  be  confessed  that,  in  this  translation 
from  the  platform  to  the  library,  the  ordeal  is  severe. 
Many  things  agreeably  said  with  the  graces  of  oratory, 
and  well  received  in  a  situation  where  what  Lord 
Bacon  calls  "the  idols  of  the  tribe"  hold  sway,  can 
not  bear  the  trial  of  intellectual  scrutiny  at  the  busy 
man's  evening  table  or  under  the  scholar's  lamp. 
INIany  a  brilliant  paragraph,  running  its  rapid  course 
like  the  skater's  w^ell-draped  figure,  sails  easily  and 
safely  over  the  illogical  and  treacherous  ice-flaws 
under  foot,  which  would  instantly  go  down,  with  a 
crash  and  splash,  to  the  frozen  baptism  of  rhetor- 
ical death,  if  it  dared  to  pause  until  the  mental  gaze 
could  be  fixed  upon  it.  Oratory  has  many  illusions 
that  are  dispelled  in  that  truthful,  candid,  and  serious 
print  which  is  the  final  test  of  all  that  we  think 
and  say. 

If  we  mistake  not,  this  volume  of  Lectures  and 
Addresses  will  suffer  less  than  is  commonly  the  case 
by  translation  from  the  rostrum  to  the  printed  page. 
These  orations  were  composed,  in  the  first  place,  with 
conscientious  care.  They  have  taken  their  final  form 
through  much  revision  and  study.  They  have  been 
perfected  by  use  and  adaptation  until  they  have 
reached  a  style  and  method  not  oflen  attained  in 
written  addresses.  This  is  to  say  that  they  have 
passed   from   the   strictly  oratorical   into  the  literary 


24  Introduction. 

form,  and  have  become  a  series  of  Essays  on  Life  and 
Conduct. 

Though  the  author  of  this  volume  has  spoken 
much  on  occasion — though  he  has  prepared  not  a 
few  of  the  following  addresses  for  some  particular  day 
and  event — the  occasional  quality  is  not  conspicuous 
in  them.  Governor  Cumback  has  selected  themes  of 
wider  import,  and  therefore  of  larger  literary  capac- 
ity, than  may  be  found  among  the  ordinary  topics  of 
occasional  oratory.  A  glance  at  the  subjects  of  these 
elegant  papers  will  show  how  large  and  varied  are 
the  themes. 

It  may  be  that  the  verve  and  piquancy  of  the 
strictly  occasional  address  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  sac- 
rificed by  this  method;  but  at  the  same  time  there  is 
a  clear  gain  in  literary  quality  and  in  permanence  of 
interest.  If  we  mistake  not,  these  Addresses  will 
endure.  Both  the  subjects  and  the  treatment  are  of 
a  kind  to  warrant  us  in  the  reasonable  expectation  of 
a  future  life  and  interest  in  these  scholarly  and  able 
lectures. 

To  a  very  large  degree  this  volume  reveals  the 
author  in  its  pages.  In  many  kinds  of  literary  work 
we  are  unable  to  discover  the  writer.  In  other 
kinds  we  catch  but  brief  and  uncertain  glimpses  of 
his  personality.  It  is  so  in  the  drama.  It  is  so  to  a 
large  degree  in  history.  In  biography,  likewise,  the 
writer  must  conceal  himself  behind  his  subject.  He 
must  not  idealize  or  mythologize  his  character,  or 
make  him  other  than  he  was.  In  no  other  kind  of 
writing — not  even  in  poetry  and  fiction — is  the  author 
capable  of  revealing  his  own  spirit  and  purpose  so 
well  as  in  a  volume  of  addresses.     Here,  indeed,  h« 


Introduction.  25 

may  not  be  mistaken  for  another.  Here  he  is  himself 
displayed.  Here  he  speaks  for  himself,  and  not  in 
'persona.  Here,  if  he  be  honest  and  have  a  trans- 
parent soul,  he  Avill  reveal  not  only  his  intellectual 
capacity  but  also  that  inner  ethical  nature  aud  re- 
ligious life  which  constitute  the  enduring  and  immu- 
table basis  of  his  power  and  individuality. 

Of  this  brief  pilgrimage  that,  we  call  life,  no  me- 
morial or  landmark  can  be  set  up  by  the  wayside  of 
mortality  more  beautiful  than  the  book.  The  book 
contains  the  living  thought,  almost  the  life  itself,  of 
the  Avriter.  How  fairer  is  this  to  the  sight  of  the 
pilgrims  than  is  some  pallid  and  sculptured  index  of 
death,  done  in  marble,  or  granite,  or  bronze  !  Let  us 
believe  that  the  sons  of  men  are  begiuniug  at  last  to 
understand  that  the  true  monument  is  not  an  obelisk 
of  stone. 

He  who  has  the  lofty  ambition  to  transmit  himself 
to  the  century  following — to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
the  unborn,  to  walk  hand  in  hand  with  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  another  age — must  freely  commit  his 
living  part,  his  thought,  his  spirit,  his  best  hope  to  the 
custody  of  the  waters.  This  he  does  by  sending  abroad 
his  book — his  book  wherein  the  far-off  day  may  see 
reflected,  not  so  much  his  face  aud  form,  as  the  outline 
of  that  immortal  and  wing-ed  creature  which  sits  en- 
throned  in  the  glow  of  his  brain. 

Gladly  do  we,  in  this  half-cursive  manner,  send 
forth  to  the  public,  with  words  of  good  cheer,  this  in- 
teresting and  valuable  contribution  to  the  oratorical 
literature  of  our  period.  AVe  doubt  not  that  this 
volume  will  receive — as  it  deserves  to  receive — at  the 
hands  of  the  critical  and  the  general  reader  a  hearty 

3 


26  Introduction. 

welcome.  The  particular  charm  and  glory  of  literary 
effort  is  that  the  brutal  law  of  competition  can  never 
be  laid  upon  it !  Here  no  man  crowds  another  from 
his  pedestal.  Here  no  man  builds  a  throne  for  an- 
other to  occupy.  Here  none  toils  and  sorrows  to 
gather  the  jewels  and  weave  a  crown  for  the  brows 
of  another.  Xo  true  book  ever  yet  thrust  another 
from  its  place.  No  real  product  of  literary  genius 
ever  made  less  cordial  and  generous  the  opportunity 
of  another.  On  the  contrary,  literary  taste  and  yearn- 
ing grow  with  all  the  fruits  they  feed  upon.  There 
is  room  for  this  book. 

"  There  is  place  in  the  land  of  j'our  labor, 
There  is  room  in  your  world  of  delight, 
Where  Change  has  not  Sorrow  for  neighbor, 
And  day  has  not  night." 

There  is  room  for  this  book,  and  there  is  room  for  its 
author.  There  is  an  ample  and  gracious  place  for 
both  in  the  luminous  thought  and  the  open  heart  of 
this  best  of  all  the  ages  and  among  this  truest  of  all 
the  peoples. 


Lectures  and  Addresses. 


THE  PUBLIC  LECTURER. 

THE  life  aud  profession  of  the  public  lecturer  is 
uulike  that  of  any  other.  If  his  success  on  the 
platform  does  not  spoil  him,  he  will  greatly  enjoy  his 
work,  and  will  be  a  valuable  factor  in  the  improve- 
ment and  development  of  the  age  in  which  he  lives. 
If,  however,  the  applause  he  receives  from  his  audi- 
ence, and  the  indorsement  given  him  by  the  press, 
result  in  impressing  him  that  he  is  a  very  great  per- 
son, then  his  egotism  will  not  only  greatly  interfere 
with  his  relish  for  his  profession,  but  will,  in  a  still 
greater  degree,  impair  his  usefulness  in  it. 

But  that  is  not  confined  to  the  lecturer.  It  is 
equally  true  of  all  professions.  Sensible  people  have 
but  little  toleration  for  egotism.  The  man  at  the 
bar,  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  platform,  or  anywhere  else, 
who  shows  that  he  is  constantly  thinking  more  of 
himself  than  his  work,  will  soon  find  that  his  ad- 
mirers and  followers  are  only  the  shallow  aud  un- 
thinking. 

If  his  towering  egotism  has  not  so  blinded  him 
that  he  can   observe   that   he   fails   to   have  the  ap- 

Delivered  before  the  Chautauquan  Assembly,  at  Silver 
Lake,  New  York. 

21 


28  The  Public  Lecturer. 

proval  of  the  better  judgment  of  the  thinking  peo- 
ple, thcD  he  becomes  irritable,  and  that  makes  him 
cynical  and  cranky.  If  the  crank  is  carefully  and 
thoroughly  analyzed,  it  will  be  found  in  all  cases  that 
the  fountain  and  origin  of  his  disease,  the  fatal  germ 
of  the  complaint  that  has  affected  his  whole  mental 
machinery,  is  egotism. 

I  am  glad  to  believe  and  to  proclaim  that  the 
lecture  platform,  in  its  larger  sense,  is  fi-ee  from  this 
nuisance.  He  can  not  be  sustained  there.  I  am  will- 
ing to  concede  that  there  are  abundance  of  cranks 
who  attempt  to  lecture  on  special  topics.  But  they 
do  not  gather  about  them  the  thinking  people.  Their 
audiences  are  largely  made  of  those  who  are  hunting 
for  a  sensation;  those  who  seem  to  take  a  great  deal 
of  satisfaction  in  being  humbugged ;  those  who  meas- 
ure the  greatness  of  the  speaker  by  the  magnitude  of 
his  falsehoods ;  those  who  read  cheap  newspapers  with 
blood-curdling  pictures;  and  those  who  stand  round 
long-haired  liars  on  the  corners  of  the  street,  and 
purchase  pinchbeck  jewelry  and  bogus  liniment  at 
enormous  prices. 

But  I  assert,  with  no  small  degree  of  satisfaction, 
that  on  the  broad  public  platform,  where  the  themes 
are  discussed  that  are  demanded  by  the  sensible  peo- 
ple who  really  enjoy  a  good  lecture,  there  can  be 
found  but  few  cranks.  And  when  one  does  appear 
there,  he  is  compelled,  like  the  ground-hog,  to  go 
back  to  his  hole  as  soon  as  he  sees  the  dimness  of  his 
own  shadow. 

I  asserted,  in  the  beginning,  that  his  life  and  pro- 
fession are  unlike  those  of  any  other.     He  is,  in  most 


The  Public  Lecturer.  29 

cases,  an  entire  stranger  to  his  audience.  Those  who 
come  to  hear  him  have  but  little  means  in  advance  of 
determining  the  sincerity  of  his  jjurpose,  or  the 
honesty  of  his  heart,  or  the  breadth  of  his  mind. 
They  can  not  tell  whether  he  has  sought  the  platform 
to  gratify  his  personal  vanity,  or  for  the  small  fees  he 
may  get  for  his  lectures,  or  whether  he  is  prompted 
by  the  higher  motive  of  instructing  and  entertaining 
his  fellow-men  and  elevatiug  his  race.  They  can  not 
know  beforehand  whether  he  is  a  person  of  broad 
culture,  or  whether  the  few  facts  and  illustrations  that 
he  has  strung  together  for  an  hour's  talk  are  all  he 
knows  on  that  subject. 

It  is  but  natural,  in  such  cases,  that  in  view  of 
these  facts,  and  also  that  a  fee  at  the  door  has  been 
exacted  of  his  hearers,  a  feeling  of  doubt  and  distrust 
should  prevail  to  some  extent  among  his  auditors. 

But  he  has  a  more  formidable  obstacle  still  to 
contend  with,  right  in  the  onset.  There  is  not  a 
single  tie  between  him  and  them.  He  is  bound  to 
them  by  no  creed,  and  united  by  no  partisanship. 
He  dares  not  be  sectarian  or  partisan.  His  mission, 
if  he  be  true  to  his  profession,  is  to  attack,  in  a  fair, 
manly  way,  the  errors  in  all  creeds,  and  try  to  broaden 
human  thought  on  every  question  of  general  interest. 
As  he  has  before  him  all  shades  of  opinions  and 
beliefs,  and  as  the  individual  auditor  may  not  know- 
in  advance  but  that  his  pet  theory  may  be  assailed, 
the  audience  is  in  the  attitude  of  self-defense  and  re- 
sistance, rather  than  in  sympathy  with  the  speaker. 

But  he  has  this  advantage.  He  has  a  broad- 
minded  and  generous  audience.     He  has  before  him 


30  The  Public  Lecturer. 

the  elite  of  the  town.  Society  may  draw  her  lines 
elsewhere,  and  make  her  elite  out  of  the  old  families, 
the  blue-bloods,  the  official  and  professional .  people ; 
but  a  first  circle  composed  of  these  elements  alone 
will  not  stand  the  test  of  honest  scrutiny. 

Show  me  the  lecture-going  people  of  a  commu- 
nity, and  I  will  show  you  the  real  nobility.  The 
bigot  will  not  attend  lectures,  because  he  does  not 
care  to  believe  anything  outside  of  his  creed.  The 
crank  refuses  to  be  present,  for  the  reason  that  the 
lecturer  is  not  mounted  on  his  hobby.  The  intense 
partisan  is  not  found  in  the  audience,  because  the 
speaker  did  not  vote  as  he  did  at  the  last  election. 
The  mercenary  people  stay  away,  because  there  is 
no  money  in  it  to  them.  The  stingy  people  are  not 
of  the  number,  because  they  have  not  had  a  compli- 
mentary. The  aristocrat  refuses  to  be  seen  in  an 
audience  where  the  cheapness  of  the  admission  brings 
in  so  many  common  people  as  to  make  the  audience 
entirely  too  miscellaneous  for  him.  The  dude  is  not 
of  the  number,  because  the  lecture-room  is  not  a  dress 
party  and  is  not  a  suitable  place  for  fools. 

Is  it  not  apparent,  with  all  these  eliminated, 
and  many  of  the  same  sort  that  might  be  men- 
tioned, that  the  general  average  of  the  remainder 
will  go  up  so  rapidly  and  to  such  a  height  that  the  arti- 
ficial lines  society  has  made  for  the  first  circle  will 
be  wiped  out,  and  a  real,  solid,  substantial  upper- 
tendom  will  take  the  place  that  society  has  assigned 
to  the  shoddy  class? 

It  would  not  be  true  to  assert  that  this  line  of 
division   is  entirely  correct,  that  it   includes  all  the 


The  Public  Lecturer.  31 

best  and  none  of  the  worst,  yet,  in  the  main,  the 
audiences  of  the  lecture-roora  are  the  salt  of  the 
town.  While  they  are  broad-minded  and  generous, 
yet  they  do  their  own  thinking,  and  stand  ready  to 
challenge  the  soundness  of  the  utterances  of  the  plat- 
form. This  is  especially  true  if  the  announced  sub- 
ject has  any  bearing  on  the  correct  conduct  of  life. 
And,  to  my  mind,  this  is  the  theme  that  ought  to  be 
presented  by  the  lecturer,  if  it  rises  above  a  mere 
entertainment  to  the  dignity  of  a  lecture. 

Neither  the  politician  nor  the  preacher  has  any 
of  these  difficulties  in  his  way.  The  partisan 
followers  of  the  politician  are  ready  to  swear  in  ad- 
vance, the  moment  their  leader  mounts  the  stump, 
that  he  will  say  the  very  things  they  want  to  hear, 
and  solemnly  to  affirm  the  truth  of  every  statement, 
even  before  he  has  uttered  a  word.  The  preacher,  in 
most  cases,  has  a  still  stronger  grip  on  his  audience, 
and  so  much  confidence  have  some  members  of  his 
congregation  that  they  sleep  sweetly  all  through 
his  discourse. 

If  the  lecturer  in  the  end  succeeds  in  establish- 
ing good  and  sympathetic  relations  between  himself 
and  his  audience,  he  will  have  to  do  so  by  the  force 
of  his  genius ;  by  his  clear  and  manly  statements  of 
his  propositions;  by  his  devotion  to  the  truth;  by 
his  earnest  and  manifest  desire  to  benefit  mankind; 
and,  above  all,  by  an  entire  forgetfulness  of  his  own 
personality. 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  in  the  community  that 
has  the  advantage  of  this  honest  platform  work  will 
be  found  the  broadest  culture  and  the   highest  intel- 


32  The  Public  Lecturer. 

ligence.  The  human  mind  is  stimulated  and  aroused 
by  the  lecturer,  who,  thus  standing  on  neutral  ground 
for  the  truth,  begins  to  question  old,  hitherto-accepted 
opinions.  This  questioning  spirit  gathers  private  and 
public  libraries,  and  the  clouds  of  bigotry,  intolerance, 
and  ignorance  are  dispelled  by  the  sunlight  and  gen- 
eral dissemination  of  knowledge. 

This  is  not  claiming  too  much  for  the  platform. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  the  members  of  every 
trade,  calling,  or  profession  unduly  magnify  the  im- 
portance of  their  position.  They  are  inclined  to  in- 
sist that  but  for  them  human  society  would  not  be 
properly  organized,  and  civilization  would  be  com- 
pelled to  call  a  halt.  So  let  it  be.  It  is  better  to 
magnify  one's  own  work  than  to  depreciate  it. 

Success  comes  largely  from  this  condition  of  af- 
fairs. That  too  much  is  claimed  in  every  case  can 
not  be  doubted.  Yet  it  takes  so  many  and  such 
varied  elements  to  make  up  even  the  sort  of  civiliza- 
tion we  have,  that  the  precise  effect  of  the  absence  of 
one  element  can  not  be  ascertained.  It  can  only  be 
guessed  at,  without  the  trial  of  the  experiment.  That 
is  not  practicable  or  possil)le,  because  human  influences 
are  so  interlaced  and  so  dependent  on  each  other  that 
the  power  and  force  of  any  one  can  not  be  definitely 
ascertained,  but  can  only  be  estimated. 

While  exaggeration  is  not  to  be  encouraged,  yet 
the  sharp  and  vigorous  contest  of  each  trade  and  pro- 
fession to  sustain  the  claim  to  stand  at  the  front 
has  been  one  of  the  most  active  forces  in  arousing 
the  human  intellect,  and  in  pushing  the  human  race 
out    on    a    voyage    of   discovery    and    invention.     It 


The  Pcblic  Lecturer.  ,    33 

has  undoubtedly  very  much  quickened  the  step  of 
progress. 

All  of  this  has  more  than  compensated  for  the 
huge  pretensions  and  unwarranted  assumptions  that 
have  been  the  ridiculous  phases  of  rivalry — the  ab- 
surd claim  that  each  has  a  corner  on  human  develop- 
ment and  a  patent  on  the  most  approved  method  of 
civilization. 

This  state  of  things  comes  largely  from  the  strange 
disposition  of  the  mind  of  man  to  indulge  in  hobby- 
riding.  We  make  loud  boasts  of  human  reason. 
We  claim  that  its  length  and  breadth  and  depth  can 
not  be  measured.  Essayists  and  philosophers  have 
gloried  in  it;  and  poets  without  number  have  mounted 
Pegasus,  and  from  Hyperion  heights  have  sung  of  the 
infinitude  of  human  thought.  It  silences  the  eulo- 
gies of  the  metaphysician,  and  clips  the  wings  of  the 
poet,  and  humiliates  the  whole  human  race,  when 
you  exhibit  the  one-ideaed  tendencies  of  man's 
reasoning. 

The  comparatively  few  who  have  been  able  to  get 
out  of  this  narrow  channel  and  stand  for  the  truth 
wherever  it  may  be  found,  have  won  the  persecutions 
of  the  t?imes  in  which  they  lived,  and  the  honors  and 
blessings  of  the  generations  following  them.  Their 
lives  stand  out  as  beacons,  to  warn  the  race  to  avoid 
the  shoals  and  shallows  of  mere  party  and  sect. 

There  have  been  but  a  few  in  the  past  bold  enough 
to  so  bless  the  race.  There  will  be  more  in  the 
coming  and  better  future.  Then  justice  will  be  done 
to  mankind  personally  and  professionally.  Nothing 
■will  then  pass  for  more  than  its  real  worth,  and  igno- 


34  The  Public  Lecturer. 

raiice  and  siiperstitioa  will  not  be  able  to  suppress  real 
merit.     Hasten  the  blessed  time ! 

The  lecture  platform  is  one  of  the  most  active 
forces  to  hurry  it  along.  In  making  this  high  claim, 
I  hope  the  suggestion  may  not  arise  in  your  mind 
that  in  doing  so  I  have  subjected  myself  to  the  con- 
demnation that  I  have  passed  upon  the  hobby-rider. 
There  is  no  place  on  the  lecture  platform  for  such. 
He  is  too  narrow  to  take  it  in,  and  too  near-sighted 
to  discern  anything  but  his  hobby.  The  fact  is,  the 
lecture  platform  is  a  most  serious  obstacle  in  his  way. 
It  is  erected  right  across  the  ruts  in  which  he  runs, 
and  is  sustained  and  upheld  by  a  people  who  are  too 
sensible  and  honest  to  encourage  cranks,  or  to  counte- 
nance those  who  undertake  to  warp  and  twist  the 
truth  so  as  to  conceal  aod  give  currency  to  the  false. 
We  boast  of  our  age.  And  well  we  may.  We 
have  many  things  in  these  times  to  brag  about.  The 
chief  glory  of  our  day,  and  that  which  gives  the 
charming  luster  to  our  civilization,  is  the  constantly 
growing  disposition  of  thinking  people  to  try  to  find 
where  the  straight-edge  of  the  truth  is,  and  then  to 
bring  their  preconceived  notions  and  inherited  opin- 
ions and  lay  them  alongside,  and  thus  discover  the 
crooks  and  kinks  in  their  belief,  that  they  may  correct 
and  straighten  them. 

Is  it  too  much  to  claim  that  the  lecture  platform, 
elevated  as  it  is  above  partisan  contention  and  secta- 
rian wrangling,  has  been  the  chief  instrument  in  in- 
citing this  wider  investigation  and  broader  concep- 
tion? Is  not  the  lecturer,  with  love  in  his  heart  for 
his  race,  and  with  a  sublime    reverence  and  a  sin- 


The  Public  Lecturer.  35 

cere  devotion  for  the  truth,  and  with  the  manly  cour- 
age to  stand  by  his  convictions,  the  gallant  leader  in 
the  forward  march  of  human  progress? 

Unlike  the  preacher,  who  must  not  offend  his 
Church  by  questioning  the  soundness  of  her  creed; 
unlike  the  politician,  who  must  not  alienate  the  parti- 
san devotion  of  his  constituency  by  discarding  a 
single  plank  in  the  platform ;  unlike  the  press,  that 
must  cater  to  the  prejudices  of  its  patrons, — he  is  free 
from  the  control  and  domination  of  any  sort  of  fol- 
lowing. If  he  is  not,  he  ought  to  be,  an  independ- 
ent man  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  word,  conscious 
that  his  mission  is  higher  than  the  tricks  of  the  show- 
man or  the  antics  of  the  acrobat. 

The  lecture  platform  is  not  the  proper  place  to 
exhibit  celebrities.  The  Lecture  Bureau  sometimes, 
like  the  circus,  is  looking  out  for  novelties.  They 
do  have  persons  on  their  list  of  attractions  who  have 
in  some  way  suddenly,  and  often  unexpectedly  to 
themselves,  attracted  the  general  attention  of  the 
public.  They  are  put  forward  as  lecturers.  It  is  a 
great  mistake,  and  a  prostitution  of  the  platform. 
Their  proper  place  is  in  the  dime  museum,  where  there 
is  a  variety  of  curiosities  that  are  to  be  seen  and  not 
heard.  If  brevity  be  the  soul  of  wit,  then  the  short- 
ness of  their  career  on  the  platform  would  give  them 
a  high  place  on  the  list  of  humorists. 

The  lecture  platform,  like  the  stage,  attracts  a 
great  number  of  people,  who  are  hungry  for  distinc- 
tion, to  mount  it  and  try  to  secure  popular  favor. 
In  proportion  to  the  numbers  who  undertake  the 
difficidt   work,  there  are  as  many  failures  in  the  one 


36  The  Public  Lecturer. 

as  the  other.  The  stage,  the  stump,  and  the  platform 
are  sought  for  to  gratify  that  unfortunate  human  weak- 
ness, the  love  of  popular  applause,  which  has  made 
more  fools,  and  the  fear  of  its  opposite  has  made 
more  cowards,  than  all  other  causes  put  together. 

The  success  of  an  actor  or  a  lecturer  or  any 
public  speaker  is  exactly  jjroportioned  to  the  dis- 
appearance of  his  personality,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  character  he  portrays,  or  the  subject  that 
he  discusses.  If  you  will  follow  the  homeward- 
bound  audience,  and  if  their  talk  on  the  way  is  only 
about  the  j)crsonjiel  of  the  performer,  you  may  safely 
affirm  that  he  has  furnished  nothing  else.  If  they 
can  only  recall  his  humorous  illustrations,  then  you 
may  be  sure  that  his  jokes  did  not  illustrate.  If 
they  discuss  only  his  manner,  his  dress,  or  his  prob- 
able age;  or  are  guessing  about  his  habits,  his  poli- 
tics, or  religion, — you  will  be  warranted  in  conclud- 
ing that  his  thoughts  are  not  large  enough,  or  clear 
enough,  to  call  their  attention  from  these  things. 

Those  who  make  a  complete  success  in  their  ef- 
forts before  the  public  are  those  who  in  person  en- 
tirely disappear,  and  leav^e  only  their  work  for  con- 
sideration and  admiration.  This  may  be  regarded 
as  a  very  severe  rule,  and  will  limit  the  successful  to 
a  very  small  number;  but  in  the  main  it  is  correct. 
If  its  application  annihilates  a  host  of  pretenders, 
and  weakens  the  self-assurance  of  others,  this  is  not 
sufficient  ground  to  question  its  accuracy. 

The  platform  is  necessary  as  a  regulator  of  human 
affairs.  It  is  common  ground,  where  all  thoughtful 
people  may  meet. 


The  Public  Lecturer.  37 

Every  four  years,  in  this  land  of  boasted  light 
aud  knowledge,  the  politicians  succeed  in  placing  the 
voters  in  grim  autagouisna  to  each  other.  In  the 
intense  heat  of  the  contest  and  bitterness  of  the 
struggle,  men  lose  their  reason,  and  see  but  one  side 
of  a  few  political  abstractions  that  neither  they  nor 
their  leaders  fully  comprehend.  But  they  serve  the 
purpose  to  inflame  party  zeal,  to  put  a  few  men  in  office, 
and  to  leave  behind  a  proscriptive  and  intolerant 
spirit  among  the  people. 

We  have  also  a  spirit  of  dogmatism  in  religion, 
that  divides  mankind  and  is  at  war  with  the  sweet 
charity  that  Christianity  teaches — a  spirit  that 
prompts  the  searching  of  lexicons  aud  old  parch- 
ments, to  learn  if  a  diiferent  shade  "of  meaning  may 
not  be  given  to  a  word  in  the  Scriptures  on  which 
to  build  a  new  sect  or  furnish  a  new  ground  of  at- 
tack on  a  sect  already  existing.  Intense  partisan- 
ship is  the  foe  to  patriotism;  and  narrow,  proscrip- 
tive sectarianism  is  the  enemy  of  Christianity. 

Had  we  no  forum  where  these  great  questions 
could  be  discussed  dispassionately,  free  from  party 
spirit,  might  not  the  bloody  dagger  of  persecution,  as 
of  old,  be  again  the  only  argument  of  intolerance? 
It  might  be  regarded  as  extreme  to  assert  that  a 
high  degree  of  civilization  can  not  be  maintained 
without  such  a  forum.  The  history  of  the  past 
will  corroborate  the  statement  that  it  is  here  where 
the  people  have  found  the  remedies  for  all  social 
disorders.  Here  has  been  the  chosen  battle-ground 
against  intolerance  in  religion  and  oppression  in  gov- 
ernment.    Here  justice  can  have  a  fair  hearing,  and 


38  The  Public  Lecturer. 

the  plea  of  mercy  eau  uot  be  denied.  It  is  the  best 
friend  to  human  liberty,  and  the  open  foe  to  any  sort 
of  despotism.  Where  tyranny  is  not  strong  enough 
to  abolish  it,  it  is  here  the  common  people  meet 
and  agitate  until  their  stolen  rights  are  sur- 
rendered. 

It  is  from  this  elevated  position  that  the  human 
mind  has  been  awakened  to  a  wider  range  of  vision, 
and  aroused  to  a  more  earnest  and  intelligent  activ- 
ity. It  has  been  inseparably  connected  with  every 
advanced  step  the  race  has  made,  the  leader  in  all  re- 
forms in  all  the  past,  and  is  one  of  the  mighty  educa- 
tional forces  of  the  present  time. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  lecture  platform, 
in  its  broadest  sense,  has  never  yet  been  fully  appre- 
ciated. As  a  civilizing  force,  its  real  value  is  not 
properly  estimated. 

\Ye  do  not  underestimate  the  importance  of  the 
lecture  platform  in  the  halls  of  learning.  The  teacher, 
preacher,  doctor,  or  lawyer,  in  these  days  would  be 
regarded  as  a  pretender  or  a  quack,  who  would  offer 
his  services  to  the  public  before  he  had  given  full 
attendance  to  a  complete  course  of  lectures. 

Not  only  in  these  professions,  but  in  every  de- 
partment of  science  and  art,  the  platform  may  be 
found  doing  the  same  effective  work.  Even  in  the 
privacy  of-  the  domestic  circle  may  sometimes  be 
found  the  lecture  platform,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
a  single  auditor.  In  such  cases  the  lecturer  is  not 
generally  a  man.  He  is,  whether  willing  or  unwill- 
ing, the  recipient  of  this  home  instruction ;  and  the 
noble  array  of  model  husbands  that  adorn  and  beau- 


The  Public  Lecturer.  39 

tify   humau   society  attests  the   thoronglmess  of  the 
work  and  the  earnestness  of  the  home  lecturer. 

But  it  is  not  the  purpose  to  discuss  the  subject  as 
it  applies  to  special  topics  of  wrong  and  injustice, 
where  the  public  mind  is  thrown  out  of  its  every-day 
currents  and  channel  by  some  great  exciting  cause  ; 
nor  stop  to  consider  the  special  work  of  the  platform 
where  the  whole  people  may  not  attend. 

We  will  take  this  platform,  where  everybody  is  in- 
vited, and  where  any  subject  may  be  discussed.  The 
practical  question,  then,  is,  What  is  the  best  that  can 
be  done  here  for  the  public  generally? 

If  his  topic  be  ethical,  the  lecturer  ought  to  use  all 
his  ability  in  holding  up,  in  bright  hues,  the  beauty  of 
integrity,  the  loveliness  of  virtue,  and  the  nobility  of 
courage;  and  at  the  same  time,  in  contrast,  show  in 
strong  colors  the  ugliness  of  dishonesty,  the  vulgar- 
ity of  vice,  and  the  meanness  of  cowardice. 

To  have  any  measure  of  success,  the  lecturer  will 
have  to  possess  that  best  of  all  gifts — common  sense. 
If  he  be  a  scholar,  his  attainments  will  be  of  little 
service  to  him  unless  he  has  learned  to  present  his 
thoughts  in  the  simplest  language,  so  that  those  of 
his  audience  less  favored  may  comprehend  his  mean- 
ing. The  scientific  man  on  the  platform  sometimes 
makes  the  serious  mistake  of  using  the  technical  terms 
of  the  scientific  text-books.  He  could  be  con- 
victed on  an  indictment  of  cruelty  to — the  audience. 
If  he  can  not  impart  his  knowledge  of  science  in 
words  that  the  audience  of  common  people  can  under- 
stand, then  he  ought  not  to  invite  them  to  hear  him, 
but  state   In  the    bills   that   none    but   scientists   are 


40  The  Public  Lecturer. 

wanted.  In  most  cases,  his  audiences  would  be  less 
than  that  of  the  lawyer's  in  the  jury-box. 

He  can  not  be  said  to  be  a  brilliant  success  as  a 
lecturer  who  may  be  able  to  keep  his  audience  in  a 
constant  roar  of  laughter.  The  places  exclusively 
for  laughter  are  the  variety  theaters,  the  minstrel  per- 
formances, and  others  of  like  kind,  organized  for 
that  purpose.  The  lecture-room  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
a  very  different  sort  of  entertainment.  How  very 
cheap  sensible  people  feel  on  their  way  home,  after 
their  attendance  on  a  mere  laughing  entertainment, 
you  well  know  who  have  had  the  experience.  The 
true  mission  of  the  platform  is  not  to  make  them 
laugh  alone,  but  to  cause  them  to  think. 

Do  not  understand  me  to  depreciate  real,  clean 
humor.  It  is  invaluable  to  intensify  the  interest  in 
the  subject,  and  the  lecturer  who  can  see  and  happily 
present  the  humorous  side  of  the  thing  is  the  most 
successful  on  the  platform.  But  the  humor  must 
arise  so  naturally  and  spontaneously  from  the  topic 
that  it  would  seem  that  it  could  not  be  avoided. 
The  force  of  it  is  entirely  broken  and  destroyed  if 
it  appears  that  the  lecture  has  been  deflected  out  of 
its  course  in  order  that  the  laugh  might  be 
brought  in. 

It  is  too  much  to  ask  an  intelligent  people  to 
laugh  again  at  some  venerable  yarn  or  ancient  joke 
that  they  have  heard  again  and  again  at  the  corner 
grocery  or  the  circus.  It  is  absolutely  painful  to 
witness  an  audience,  of  an  obliging  disposition,  try- 
ing to  force  a  laugh  to  please  a  speaker  who  has 
glued  one  of  those  old  chestnuts  on  his  speech  that 


'I HE  Public  Lecturer.  41 

he  may  have  the  credit  of  beiiij^  a  wit.  And,  what  is 
worse,  it  shortens  human  life  by  thus  cruelly  causing 
an  unwarranted  and  unexpected  strain  on  the  moral 
and  mental  machinery  of  his  hearers.  It  wull  take 
at  least  half  a  dozen  honest  laughs  to  repair  the 
damage.  The  lecturer  can  no  more  make  a  humorist 
out  of  himself,  much  as  he  may  desire  to  do  so,  than  he 
can  be  a  painter  or  a  poet  at  will;  the  one  must  be  as 
inherent  as  the  other. 

There  are  born  humorists  on  the  platform,  who 
not  only  see  life  as  it  really  is,  but  have  the  rare 
faculty  of  taking  a  bright  and  humorous  view,  and 
yet  have  a  fair  and  just  conception  of  the  dignity  of 
the  position  they  hold.  These  are  in  demand  by  the 
lecture-going  public.  There  are  so  many  rough 
roads  in  life,  so  many  disappointments  that  come  at 
all  times,  and  from  so  many  unexpected  sources,  that 
the  lecturer  who  will  come  with  his  subject  all  aglow 
with  mirth-giving  humor,  and  for  a  time  make 
the  lesson  of  life  not  a  task  but  a  delightful  recre- 
ation, is  thrice  welcome,  and  is  hailed  as  a  bene- 
diction. 

In  attacking  false  theories  and  vicious  practices, 
he  can  use  his  humor  to  give  a  keener  edge  to  his 
sarcasms,  to  sharpen  the  poignancy  of  his  ridicule, 
and,  with  a  bright  and  ready  wit  to  guide  him,  he 
can  impress  his  thoughts  upon  his  audience  so  that 
they  will  not  only  retain  them  ever  afterwards,  but 
be  stimulated  and  strengthened  in  the  conflicts  that 
may  come  in  the  future.  But  he  must  not  allow^ 
his  wit  to  degenerate  into  mere  drollery,  or  descend 
to  the  low  level  of  a  shallow  buffoon.     The  line  of 


42  The  Public  Lecturer. 

division  between  a  lecture  and  a  mere  humorous 
entertainment  must  be  kept  clear  and  distinct. 

If  the  former  is  announced  and  the  latter  given, 
it  is  a  fraud  on  the  platform  and  the  public.  The 
thinking  people  are  induced  to  attend,  expecting 
something  sensible,  and  the  minstrel-loving  crowd 
are  kept  away  by  the  advertisement,  and  both  are 
swindled,  and  the  platform  is  disgraced  by  the  de- 
ception. 

We  hear  it  said  that  the  platform  is  losing  its 
hold  on  the  people.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  lec- 
turer, on  his  first  visit  to  a  town,  to  be  informed  by 
the  committee,  in  tones  of  disgust,  "  that  the  audience 
will  be  small  to-night;  that  if  it  were  a  negro  show 
the  house  would  be  full;  that  this  is  a  poor  town  for 
lectures."  This  is  doubtless  true  of  many  places. 
The  reason  for  it  is,  that  the  platform  has  been 
weakened  before  the  demand  for  fun,  and  has  become 
as  little  respected  as  the  floating  voter  in  politics  or 
the  hypocrite  in  religion.  To  use  a  slang  phrase,  it 
has,  by  this  means,  "  lost  its  grip "  by  lowering  its 
dignity. 

But  where  the  lecture  platform  has  stood  by  its 
true  colors,  combining  a  high  order  of  entertainment 
with  valuable  instruction — catering  to  no  false  preju- 
dices, but  upholding  the  truth — it  is  growing  more 
and  more  into  popular  favor.  There  are  places  in 
this  country  where  lecture  courses  of  this  high  order 
have  been  maintained  for  fifty  consecutive  years.  In 
such  favorable  localities  may  be  found  the  largest 
public  libraries,  more  and  better  selected  books  in 
the  homes,  a  newspaper  press  cleansed  of  slander  and 


The  Public  Leciurer.  43 

personal  abuse,  aiul  the  brightest  type  of  citizenship. 
The  circus  will  not  spread  its  tent  in  such  a  place, 
the  whisky-saloon  will  not  dominate  in  politics,  and 
the  crank  will  flock  all  alone  by  himself. 

A  courageous  exposition  of  shams,  whether  in 
faith  or  practice,  a  discussion  of  the  science  of  human 
duty,  and  a  bold  assault  on  the  many  hindering 
causes  to  man's  mental  and  moral  development,  is 
the  true  and  best  mission  of  the  lecture  platform ; 
and  the  scholarly  men  and  eloquent  women  who 
have  brought  honor  and  glory  to  it,  and  have  given 
the  platform  its  high  position  as  a  factor  in  hnman 
reformation,  are  those  who,  with  love  in  their  hearts 
for  the  race,  have  seen  the  wrongs  and  evils  in  human 
society,  and  have  assailed  and  exposed  them,  and  have 
thought  out  the  remedies  and  presented  them. 

There  is  a  power  and  force  in  the  earnestness  of 
a  human  soul  speaking  from  an  honest  heart,  a  music 
in  the  voice  of  sincere  philanthropy,  an  electric  cur- 
rent of  human  sympathy,  that  makes  impressions 
when  the  book  and  magazine  would  fail ,  entirely. 
The  elaborate  volume  has  a  double  charm  after  the 
lecturer  has  created  a  new  interest  in  its  contents. 
But  the  truth  is,  if  we  will  make  an  honest  inventory 
of  what  we  know  and  can  readily  remember,  we  will 
find  that  we  are  much  more  indebted  to  those  we 
have  heard  than  to  those  we  have  read. 

Take  the  living  preacher  out  of  the  pulpit,  and  you 
would  remove  the  key-stone  of  the  arch  that  upholds 
the  Church  ;  take  the  politician  off  the  stump,  and  the 
citizen  would  soon  know  less,  and  care  less,  for  the 
public  welfare.     Take  the  lecturer  out  of  our  schools, 


44  The  Public  Lecturer. 

colleges,  and  universities,  and  confine  the  student  to 
the  text-books  alone,  and  the  fewer  and  inferior 
graduates  would  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  a  fear- 
ful and  destructive  blow  had  been  given  to  the 
cause  of  education.  It  would  then  be  better  under- 
stood than  now  what  a  charm  is  given  by  the  living 
teacher  to  hard  and  dry  problems  in  mathematics ; 
what  a  stimulus  is  imparted  to  the  eifort  to  master 
the  alrSost  hidden  mysteries  of  human  language, 
to  develop  the  occult  in  the  natural  sciences,  and  to 
make  clear  and  plain  the  seemingly  incomprehensible 
facts  in  all  the  learned  professions. 

In  this  country  we  could  not  dispense  with  the 
lecture  platform.  We  are  a  new  nation  with  new 
institutions;  a  heterogeneous  mass,  experimenting 
on  the  best  methods  to  give  man  the  largest  liberty, 
and  yet  maintain  law  and  order.  Our  aim  is  to  se- 
cure happy  homes  and  the  highest  type  of  real  man- 
hood. We  are  therefore  in  a  formative  state.  There 
are  countless  unsettled  questions.  Full  and  free  dis- 
cussion can  have  fair  play,  and  truth  can  have  a 
hearing. 

The  opinions  of  the  common  man  guide  and  con- 
trol everywhere.  He  having  the  responsibility  of 
government  cast  upon  him,  and  being  the  ruler  in 
politics  and  sovereign  in  government,  public  opinion 
becomes  the  autocrat  in  every  department  of  human 
affairs. 

The  absolute  freedom  of  the  platform  from  the 
domination  of  party  or  sect  makes  it  the  most  effect- 
ual helper  in  directing  the  public  mind  in  the  chan- 
nel that  leads  to  the  highest  good  to  the  human  race. 


The  Public  Lecturer.  45 

In  this  land  of  ours,  where  new  questions  con- 
stantly arise — novel  conditions  with  no  precedent  for 
their  solution — the  platform  prevents  the  twisting 
and  warping  of  new  discoveries  to  fit  old  creeds  and 
party  platitudes.  It  makes  its  quick  and  earnest 
protest  against  putting  the  new  wine  of  truth  into 
the  old  bottles  of  error,  or  patching  the  old  garments 
of  ancient  superstition  with  the  new  cloth  of  modern 
discovery.  The  true  and  only  test  of  the  progress  of 
any  age  is,  that  the  truth  is  not  made  subsidiary  to  the 
false,  and  that  the  moss  and  dust  of  past  generations 
shall  not  be  a  sufficient  shield  against  the  questioning 
spirit  of  the  times. 

Many  questions  of  this  age  are  not  properly  in 
the  domain  of  politics  or  religion.  The  magazine 
and  the  platform  are  the  places  for  their  considera- 
tion, and,  in  my  judgment,  greater  liberty  and  latitude 
are  given  to  the  lecturer  than  the  writer.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  living  and  earnest  advocate  creates  a 
deeper  interest  in  the  mind  of  the  auditor  than  the 
reader,  and  this  adds  to  the  force  and  power  of  the 
platform  as  a  teacher. 

The  lecturer,  then,  ought  to  be  thoroughly  capa- 
ble and  honest.  There  is  no  room  on  the  platform 
for  the  charlatan  or  the  demagogue.  The  high  and 
holy  purpose  should  be  to  present  the  truth.  Xo 
pandering  to  popular  prejudice;  no  cowardly  fear  of 
public  opposition ;  no  anxiety  to  secure  personal  pop- 
ularity; no  mercenary  motive, — should  tarnish  the 
luster  or  make  dim  the  glorv  of  this  o^reat  forum. 

The  careful  reading  of  the  history  of  the  civil 
and    social    revolutions   that    have    occurred    in    the 


46  The  Public  Lecturer. 

country  in  the  last  century  will  not  fail  to  find  that 
some  bold  and  fearless  lecturer,  having  the  courage 
of  his  convictions,  made  the  first  assault  which  put 
in  motion  the  waves  of  agitation  that  abolished  some 
pernicious  custom,  that  overturned  some  long-stand- 
ing evil,  and  gave  a  higher  tone  to  the  thought  and 
manners  of  American  society. 

Men  have  shown  as  high  a  type  of  courage  on  the 
platform  as  on  the  battle-field.  Public  opinion,  ema- 
nating from  ignorance  and  prejudice,  has  made  more 
cowards  than  the  most  destructive  weapons  of  war- 
fare in  the  hands  of  an  advancing  army.  The  vic- 
torious general  may  receive  promotion  from  his 
government  and  the  plaudits  of  his  countrymen,  be- 
fore the  smoke  of  the  battle  that  gave  him  his  victory 
has  cleared  away.  The  reformer,  fighting  for  the  re- 
demption and  elevation  of  his  race,  never  lives  long 
enough  to  see  and  know  the  grandeur  and  glory  of 
his  triumph.  That  can  only  be  seen  and  fully  appre- 
ciated when  viewed  through  the  vista  of  the  subse- 
quent century. 

The  dross  of  selfishness  may  be  intermingled  with 
the  golden  patriotism  of  the  warrior ;  but  the  philan- 
thropy of  the  reformer,  tried  in  the  fires  of  persecu- 
tion, is  found  without  alloy.  The  warrior  fights  for 
the  salvation  of  his  country,  his  own  promotion,  and 
the  cheers  of  his  fellow-men.  Tlie  reformer  fights 
for  the  right  and  for  the  truth,  that  the  lives  of  others 
may  be  nobler  and  happier, — too  often  having  for  his 
reward  the  jeers  and  sneers  of  those  he  is  trying 
to  help. 

"Why   should   the  one,  acting   on  the  lower  level, 


The  Public  Lecturer.  47 

bask  iu  the  warm  sunshine  of  the  smiles  of  his  fel- 
lows, while  the  other,  on  the  higher  plane  of  self-sac- 
rifice, is  scorched  by  the  fires  of  persecution  ?  Why 
should  the  one  take  his  place  in  history  at  once,  while 
the  fame  of  the  other  is  compelled  to  await  the  ap- 
proval of  the  generation  to  come  ?  It  need  not  be 
asked  which  has  the  higher  order  of  courage,  or 
which  will  live  longer  in  the  memory  and  gratitude 
of  his  race. 

He  only  is  worthy  a  place  on  the  platform  who 
has  the  bravery  to  assail  the  wrong  and  defend  the 
right,  to  be  so  devoted  to  the  nobility  of  his  mi-ssion 
as  to  be  indifferent  to  popular  approval.  And  while 
the  discussion  of  the  question  of  knowing  how  to  live 
is  not  the  only  theme  for  the  platform,  yet  it  is  here 
that  it  has  won  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  a  great 
educational  force. 

The  need  of  the  human  race  is  a  keener  perception 
of  justice  and  right,  a  broader  and  deeper  conception 
of  what  will  best  conserve  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  the  whole  mass.  To  lift  men  out  of  the  ruts 
of  daily  life,  out  of  the  narrow  circle  of  supplying 
daily  needs,  and  to  place  them  on  higher  ground,  so 
that  they  may  have  a  broader  conception  of  the  glory 
of  true  manhood  and  a  clearer  view  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  human  existence,  is,  in  any  department 
of  educational  work,  a  most  difficult  thing  to 
accomplish. 

There  are  a  few  who  desire  to  bring  out  of  life  all 
that  is  possible — who  crave  this  higher  development, 
and  they  rally  to  the  call  of  the  platform.  The  great 
mass  are  indifferent,  and  are  content  to  live  and  die  as 


48  The  Public  Lecturer. 

their  ancestors  lived  aud  died,  having  had  food  and 
raiment.  Their  religion  and  politics,  and  their  no- 
tions of  the  reciprocal  relations  of  human  society, 
they  have  inherited.  They  have  never  troubled  them- 
selves to  find  any  reason  for  any  of  these  things. 
They  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  consider 
whether  there  is  any  better  way  to  live ;  to  have 
more  health  and  less  disease,  more  joy  and  less  sor- 
row; whether  home-life  might  not  be  made  sweeter 
and  more  satisfying;  what  they  might  not  give  to, 
and  receive  from,  their  social  life;  whether  an  in- 
crease of  knowledge  of  the  things  of  e very-day  life 
really  meant  an  addition  to  their  stock  of  happiness 
and  comfort,  and  would  enhance  their  value  as  mem- 
bers of  society. 

In  all  the  reformatory  forces  can  there  be  any 
better  way  devised  to  reach  this  indiiferent  class, 
and  rouse  them  to  shake  off  their  lethargy  and  take 
an  interest  in  these  things,  than  the  public  speaker? 
What  is  better  equipped  for  this  work  than  the  pub- 
lic platform  ? 

And  while  the  listless  indifFerence  of  that  class 
who  act  as  though  it  "  is  all  of  life  to  live,"  is  most 
disheartening  to  the  philanthropist,  yet  when  he 
comes  to  consider  that  the  whole  human  race  would 
have  been  in  like  condition  but  for  the  brave  and 
self-denying  efforts  of  the  reformer,  he  should  take 
courage.  The  stream  of  human  knowledge  becomes 
broader  aud  deeper  and  clearer  every  day.  Too 
broad  to  be  longer  confined  in  the  narrow  channel  in 
the  high  places,  where  wealth  and  caste  controlled  it, 
it  has  come  down  to  the  valleys  and  to  the  plains,  and 


The  Public  Lecturer.  49 

flows  by  the  habitations  and  blesses  the  homes  of  the 
common  people.  More  and  more  do  the  human  race 
of  all  conditions  quench  their  thirst  from  its  abun- 
dant and  self-satisfying  currents.  And  as  the  com- 
mon man  drinks,  the  light  comes  into  his  imprisoned 
soul  that  ho,  too,  is  endowed  with  the  wonderful 
gift  of  reason  ;  that  no  necessity  is  laid  on  him  to 
be  the  slave  or  follower  of  another;  that  he  can 
think,  choose,  and  act  for  himself  He  begins  to 
magnify  his  own  manhood,  and  delightfully  to  realize 
the  strong  upholding  power  of  his  own  self-respect. 

AVell  may  we  boast  that  our  age  can  exhibit  these 
grander  opportunities  to  stimulate  loftier  aspirations 
in  the  individual  man.  But  the  quality  of  the  civ- 
ilization must  be  determined  at  last  by  the  number 
who  can  be  induced  to  avail  themselves  of  these 
benefits. 

When  barbarism  is  the  dominating  force,  there  can 
be  no  civilization  worthy  the  name ;  but  the  converse 
of  the  proposition  can  not  be  maintained ;  for  where 
there  has  been  the  highest  civilization  it  has  been  in- 
termingled with  ignorance,  superstition,  and  barba- 
rism. The  presence  of  this  hostile  influence  requires 
great  effort  to  hold  what  we  have  already  attained, 
and  adds  to  the  difficulty  of  even  making  a  little  ad- 
vance towards  a  better  state  of  things. 

The  savage,  surrounded  with  the  darkness  of  barba- 
rism, should  be  pitied  and  pardoned.  The  barbarian, 
from  choice  closing  his  eyes  to  the  light  of  civilization 
all  about  him,  is  a  hopeless,  incorrigible  obstacle  to 
progress — hopeless,  so  far  as  reaching  him  in  any 
way  but  by  the  magnetism  of  the  living  orator.     He 


60  The  Public  Lecturer. 

would  not  read  if  he  could,  and,  in  most  cases,  he 
could  not  if  he  would.  His  social  instincts,  and 
whatever  there  may  be  in  him  of  human  sympathy, 
may  cause  him  to  be  attracted  by  the  voice  of  another. 
It  is  the  only  available  avenue  of  information  to 
him — a  sort  of  sky-light  to  his   darkened  habitation. 

Until  some  helping  hand  shall  direct  it,  the  vine 
may  crawl  fruitless  in  the  mire  and  weeds,  poAverless 
to  lift  itself  to  the  trunk  of  the  neighboring  tree ; 
but  with  a  little  assistance  it  fastens  itself  to  its 
sturdy  neighbor,  and  climbs  up  in  the  sunlight,  and 
becomes  strong  enough  to  bud,  blossom,  and  be  fruit- 
ful. The  intelligent,  earnest  public  speaker  has  thus 
been  the  helping  and  guiding  hand  to  humanity. 

Here  and  there  we  find  a  man  of  wealth,  a  gener- 
ous philanthropist,  appreciating  the  value  of  this  re- 
formative and  elevating  force,  who  has  given  large 
sums  to  be  made  a  permanent  and  perpetual  fund,  so 
that  ethical  lectures  may  be  given  to  the  common 
people  free  of  cost.  Such  men  are  an  honor  to  the 
age  in  which  they  live  and  die.  They  give  a  new 
luster  to  our  boasted  civilization,  and  are  more 
worthy  a  monument  than  the  leader  in  war  or  in 
politics. 

It  is  not  what  the  few  gifted  and  cultured  persons 
of  any  age  may  do  in  the  fields  of  science  or  art  or 
letters  that  determines  the  progressive  spirit  of  the 
time.  It  is  not  that  here  and  there  an  inventive 
genius  may  give  us  improved  machinery  and  more 
rapid  locomotion,  or  that  accumulating  wealth  may 
erect  gorgeous  palaces  and  build  beautiful  cities,  that 
places  the  crown  of  glory  on  our  boasted  civilization. 


The  Public  Lecturer.  51 

It  is  not  the  wouderful  achievements  of  the  few,  but 
the  real  condition  of  the  masses,  that  settles  that  ques- 
tion, and  gives  the  true  measure  of  human  progress. 

If  he  may  be  lauded  as  a  benefactor  who  has 
caused  two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where  there  was 
but  one  before,  Avhat  greater  praises  ought  to  be  given 
to  him,  or  her,  who  has  planted  a  desire  for  higher  at- 
tainments in  the  barren  soil  of  indolence  and  de- 
spondency, or  developed  hope  in  the  human  soul, 
when  there  was  only  grim  despair ! 

"With  all  the  possibilities  in  reach  of  humanity  in 
each  and  every  condition  of  life,  there  ought  to  be 
an  increase  of  enjoyment,  of  intelligence,  of  integrity, 
of  nobility,  of  courage,  all  along  the  line. 

The  human  mind,  with  its  godlike  capabilities, 
need  not  wallow  in  the  mire  of  mere  animalism. 
The  light  of  human  reason  ought  not  to  be  extin- 
guished by  the  fogs  of  ignorance  and  superstition. 
The  human  race  can  come  up  to  a  longer,  a  better, 
and  happier  life.  The  great  obstacles  are  lethargy 
and  indifference.  I  am  sincere  in  the  belief  that  the 
lecture  platform  is  the  most  effective  power  in  remov- 
ing these  obstacles. 


THE  INVISIBLE  SOME  PEOPLE. 

r  DOUBT  not  some  curiosity  exists  iu  your  mind:? 
X  as  to  what  I  may  be  able  to  say  from  so  strange 
a  subject,  I  have  delivered  this  lecture  in  various 
places  throughout  the  country,  and  sometimes,  in  ad- 
vance of  its  delivery,  some  very  sharp  and  witty 
things  have  been  said  about  the  title  of  the  lecture; 
and  if  I  were  here  simply  and  only  for  the  purpose 
of  amusing  you,  I  know  nothing  better  I  could  do 
in  that  direction  than  to  quote  and  repeat  some  of 
these  pungent  criticisms.  That  is  no  part  of  my 
purpose;  but  iu  order  that  you  may  have  some  faint 
conception  of  the  difficulties  and  trials  that  the  title 
of  this  lecture  has  had  to  undergo  from  time  to  time, 
from  the  press  and  others,  I  will  venture  to  give  you 
one  circumstance  that  will  illustrate  for  all. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  invited  to  lecture  in  a  town  iu 
the  southern  part  of  Illinois.  The  people  had  erected 
in  that  town  a  very  large  and  beautiful  church — a 
very  expensive  building.  They  had  put  a  high  tower 
on  one  corner,  and  a  tall  steeple  on  the  other.  They 
had  frescoed  it  and  stuccoed  it,  and  put  in  expensive 
sittings  and  shining  chandeliers,  rich  carpetings,  and 
a  grand  organ  of  wonderful  power  and  compass;  and 
when  the  whole  was  completed  they  put  a  large  mort- 


Delivered  before  many  Lecture  Courses,  and  in  almost 
every  State  in  the  Union. 
52 


The  Ini'Isible  Some  People.  53 

gage   oil  it,  and    dedicated    it   to   God,   subject  to  a 
mortgage.     Of  course  they  then  had  to  resort  to  all 
manner  of  expedients  to  raise  the  money  to  pay  the 
interest   on    the    mortgage,   and    -when    the    regular 
Church  festival  had  become  intolerable  and  could  not 
be  endured  any  longer,  a  fertile  genius  of  the  Official 
Board   of  the    Church   suggested   that    they    have  a 
course  of  lectures  as  the  best  possible  method  to  raise 
the  money  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt.     The  sug- 
gestion was  accepted,  and  the  course  of  lectures  was 
organized,  and   I   had   the   distinguished  honor  con- 
ferred upon    me  to  come  down  and  open  the  course; 
and,  in  looking  over  the  list  of  lectures  I  sometimes 
deliver,  they  selected  this  one — "The  Invisible  Some 
People."     They  had  heard  something  about  it,  and 
wanted  that.     I   went.     They  had  a  large  audience. 
The   trustees   were   in    high  glee  over  the  success  of 
the  experiment ;  but  as  the  money  for  the  course  of 
lectures,  and  for  that  evening's  entertainment  as  well, 
was  to  pay  the  debt  of  the  church,  they  thought  it 
only  proper  to  open  the  entertainment  of  the  evening 
with    praver.      A    good    minister    of  the    town    was 
called  on  to  perform  that  service,  and  he  prayed  ex- 
ceedino-lv  well,  and  in  the  kindness  and  benevolence 
of  his    heart    he    thought  he  ought  to  remember  the 
lecturer,  so    he   said:    "Bless  our  brother,  who   has 
come  all  the  way  from  the  State  of  Indiana  to  help 
this   Church    out  of   her   financial    troubles.     "Warm 
his  heart,  and  clear  his  head.     He   has  come    with  a 
message  for  us;  he  has  come  to  tell  us  about — about — 
about — we  know  not  what  it  is  about,  O  Lord,  but 
thou  knowest!" 


54  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

I  weakened  a  little  on  the  name  after  that.  There 
is  this  thing  about  names,  however,  that  we  all  recog- 
nize to  be  true,  that  when  we  become  well  acquainted 
with  anybody,  no  matter  if  he  have  the  crookedest 
sort  of  a  name,  the  person  seems  to  be  adapted  to 
the  name  and  the  name  to  the  person ;  there  is  a 
kind  of  general  adjustment  all  round,  until  we  all 
come  to  feel  that  no  other  name  would  suit  that 
person  so  well  as  the  one  he  happens  to  have, 
crooked  as  it  may  be.  I  have  therefore  ventured  to 
indulge  the  hope  that,  when  you  shall  have  become 
acquainted  with  the  lecture,  you  will  agree  that,  after 
all,  it  is  the  very  name  you  yourselves  would  have 
given  it  had  you  been  present  at  the  christening  and 
requested  to  make  the  selection. 

I  claim  to  have  better  reasons  for  the  name  than 
the  old  German  gave  for  calling  his  boy  Hans.  He 
propounded  this  conundrum  one  day  to  his  friends: 
"Do  you  know  why  I  call  my  boy  Hans?"  They 
figured  on  it  for  a  long  time,  and  finally  gave  it  up. 
They  could  not  tell  for  the  life  of  them  why  he  called 
his  boy  Hans,  and  appealed  to  him.  He  said:  "I 
call  my  boy  Hans  because  dot  is  his  name." 

There  is  an  invisible  power  in  the  civilized  world 
known  as  "Some  People."  The  influence  of  this 
power  is  manifest  everywhere,  and  is  controlling 
human  action  and  seriously  aifecting  the  well-being 
and  happiness  of  humanity.  The  wretchedness  and 
misery  that  this  mysterious  agency  brings  to  mortals 
seems  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  redress  or  retalia- 
tion, for  the  manifest  reason  that  while  these  same 
Some  People  are  accepted  as  human  beings,  and  hold 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  ^h 

constant  intercourse  with  mortals,  and  are  in  no  degree 
or  sense  supernatural,  yet,  strange  to  tell,  they  are  in- 
visible and  past  finding  out.  Notwithstanding  they 
are  constantly  being  quoted  by  intelligent  men  and 
women,  and  their  opinions  and  decisions  are  con- 
stantly being  reported,  and  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  Some  People  is  being  given  on  this,  that,  or  the 
other  line  of  human  conduct,  by  which  means  they 
are  regulating  human  affairs  generally,  still  it  is 
impossible  to  find,  among  all  those  who  quote  so 
freely  from  them,  a  single  one  who  is  personally  ac- 
quainted with  these  Some  People. 

These  Invisible  Some  People  seem  to  be  partial 
to  no  particular  latitude  or  longitude,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  may  be  found  in  strong  force  in  every  place 
where  civilization  has  gone.  I  believe  it  is  a  well- 
settled  conclusion  in  every  community  that  there  are 
more  Invisibles  in  their  neighborhood  than  anywhere 
else.  No  nation,  claiming  to  be  in  advance,  is  free 
from  this  curse.  Indeed,  it  seems  the  higher  the 
style  of  the  civilization,  the  more  observable  are  the 
operations  of  this  invisible  power,  which  has  led  some 
to  think  that  it  is  a  legitimate  offshoot  of  the  highest 
development  of  humanity,  and  that  the  only  portion 
of  the  human  race  free  fi'om  this  curse  are  the  bar- 
barians. If  that  be  true,  then  the  barbarian  is  to  be 
congratulated  in  being  able  to  demonstrate  the  truth 
of  the  proposition  that  every  condition  of  human  life 
has  its  advantages.     I  believe  it  is  true. 

I  believe  that  this  invisible  annoyance  confines 
its  attacks  to  those  who  are  on  the  topmost  round  of 
human  advancement,  and   that  it  never  descends  to 


56  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

assail  those  who  have  not  commenced  to  ascend.  It 
might  not  be  safe  to  boldly  assert  this  as  a  well-es- 
tablished fact,  yet  Avhen  we  consider  the  different 
conditions  of  humanity  and  the  peculiar  work  and 
apparent  mission  and  purpose  of  the  Invisibles,  it 
seems  to  be  a  fair  inference. 

We  look  at  the  barbarian  in  his  mud  hut,  located 
in  the  swamps,  sitting  with  a  scowl  on  his  face,  clothed 
in  the  untanned  skin  of  the  wild  beast  he  has  slain 
himself,  whose  club  is  law.  He  knows  nothing  of 
Congress  or  politics.  Churches  or  theaters;  never  par- 
ticipated in  a  salary-grab  or  a  Sunday-school ;  never 
saw  his  name  in  a  newspaper,  and  does  not  care  if  he 
ever  does.  With  no  currency  to  inflate  or  contract; 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
wages,  and  that  he  ought  to  strike  for  more;  with  no 
middle-man  between  him  and  the  fish  in  the  stream, 
the  game  in  the  woods,  and  the  berries  on  the  bushes, 
to  speculate  on  nature's  bounties  and  compel  him  to 
join  the  Grangers  for  protection ;  with  no  first-circle 
of  society  to  court  him  or  snub  him;  with  no  clothes 
for  fashion  to  play  her  pranks  upon, — he  presents  no 
inducements  for  the  peculiar  mission  of  the  Invisibles 
of  to-day. 

In  passing  down  and  out  of  the  brighter  realms 
of  the  highest  point  in  human  advancement  into  the 
feebler  light  of  partial  civilization,  and  down  farther 
still  into  the  darkness  of  barbarism,  while  we  leave 
behind  this  invisible  torment,  yet  we  find  that  the 
semi-civilized  and  the  barbarian  have  a  kindred  in- 
visible enemy  to  their  peace.  All  of  their  invisible 
torments,  however,  are  deemed  by  them  to  be  super- 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  57 

natural.  The  human  Invisibles  are  above  in  the 
regions  of  light  and  knowledge — the  supernatural 
below  in  the  domain  of  barbarism. 

We  therefore  make  this  discovery  in  making  the 
descent  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  condition  of 
humanity, — that  poor,  unfortunate  man,  whatever  may 
be  his  mental  or  moral  status,  is  beset  with  invisible 
enemies.  We  also  find  that,  in  elevating  him  out 
of  a  state  of  barbarism  to  that  of  civilization,  we 
simply  transform  his  supernatural  invisible  enemies 
into  invisible  humans;  and  out  of  the  ugly  witch,  the 
horrid  demon,  and  the  terror-inspiring  familiar  spirit 
are  created  the  Invisible  Some  People,  whose  powers 
for  annoying  humanity  are  not  in  the  least  degree 
lessened  by  the  transformation,  and  who  make  the 
same  sort  of  warfare  on  civilized  man. 

Cotton  Mather,  one  of  the  last  and  ablest  defenders 
of  witchcraft,  undertook  to  defend  the  delusion  by 
writing  a  most  remarkable  book,  entitled  "  Glimpses 
of  the  Invisible  World."  He  tried  to  meet,  in  that 
book,  the  difficulties  that  reason  and  good  sense  were 
beginning  to  bring  forward  against  the  delusion.  He 
said :  "  In  all  the  witchcraft  which  now  grievously 
vexes  us,  I  know  not  whether  anything  be  more  un- 
accountable than  the  trick  which  the  witches  have  to 
render  themselves  and  their  tools  invisible.  Witch- 
craft," he  adds,  "  seems  to  be  the  skill  of  applying 
the  plastic  spirit  of  the  world  unto  some  unlawful 
purposes  by  means  of  a  confederacy  with  evil  spirits. 
Yet  one  would  wonder  how  the  evil  spirits  them- 
selves can  do  some  things,  especially  at  invisibilizing 
the  crassest  bodies.     But,"  he  adds,  "our  witches  do 


58  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

seem  to  have  the  knack  of  it,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
things  that  makes  me  think  that  witchcraft  will  not 
be  understood  so  long  as  there  is  a  witch  in  the 
world."  Cotton  Mather,  in  thus  wrestling  with  the 
witchcraft  of  his  time,  has  given  us  a  very  fair  de- 
scription of  the  witches  of  our  day.  They  ought  to 
resemble  each  other,  as  they  evidently  have  the  same 
progenitor. 

A  learned  writer  on  the  ancient  witchcraft  says 
"that,  beyond  all  question,  Satan  is  the  prime  mover 
in  all  things  pertaining  to  witchcraft,"  and  brings 
forward  proof  satisfactory  to  himself,  at  least,  to  sus- 
tain his  position.  He  says  of  Satan:  "His  heart  is 
beyond  what  the  wisest  may  pretend  unto.  He  has 
perfect  skill  in  optics,  and  can  therefore  cause  that  to 
be  invisible  to  one  which  is  not  so  to  another,  and 
things  to  appear  otherwise  than  what  they  really  are. 
Learned  men,"  he  adds,  "give  it  as  a  certain  sign  of 
demoniacal  possession  Avhen  the  afflicted  party  can  see 
and  hear  that  which  no  one  else  can  discern  anything 
of,  and  when  they  can  discover  secret  things." 

Our  modern  witchcraft  could  not  be  better  de- 
scribed, and  if  the  devil  was  really  the  author  of  the 
invisible  torments  of  the  centuries  long  since  past,  the 
family  resemblance  of  our  witches  fixes  their  paternity 
on  him  most  exclusively.  The  difference  in  the  opera- 
tions of  our  witches  only  establishes  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine  of  a  learned  Scotch  divine  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  that  "the  devil,  like  everybody  else,  im- 
proves with  age  and  experience." 

We  have  a  most  exalted  opinion  of  the  superiority 
of  our  civilization  over  that  of  any  past  period.     For 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  59 

the  past  we  have  an  abundance  of  pity,  mingled  with 
no  small  amount  of  contempt.  For  the  present  times 
we  indulge  in  rhapsody  and  congratulation.  Let  us 
take  a  sober,  honest  view  of  the  two  periods,  and 
then  determine  whether  we  have  so  much  cause  for 
congratulation. 

It  is  true  that,  in  following  the  history  and  prog- 
ress of  the  human  race  from  the  earliest  history  of 
man,  we  find  that,  until  within  the  last  two  hundred 
years,  no  portion  of  the  human  race  was  free  from  the 
miseries  which  these  supernatural  Invisibles  inflicted 
on  terror-stricken  humanity.  Demonology,  witchcraft, 
and  familiar  spirits  were  so  interwoven  with  the  belief 
of  man  that  they  not  only  became  part  and  parcel  of 
his  religion,  but  in  the  darker  times  were  regarded  as 
its  essential  features.  In  tiiose  times  this  condition 
of  the  human  mind  was  not  confined  to  the  ignorant 
and  depraved.  On  the  contrary,  the  deeper  the  philoso- 
pher and  theologian  dived  into  the  mysteries  of  science 
and  theology,  and  the  more  learning  they  acquired, 
the  more  extensive  was  their  experience  with,  and  the 
more  they  knew  of,  demons  and  invisible  torments. 

Even  the  immortal  Luther,  the  greatest  mind  of 
many  centuries,  could  not  rise  above  the  delusions  of 
the  times.  He  firmly  believed  that  the  very  devil  in 
person  visited  his  room  every  night ;  and  he  claimed 
that  he  was  often  awakened  out  of  sleep  by  the  noise 
made  by  his  Satanic  Majesty  in  his  private  apart- 
ments. It  is  recorded  that  at  one  time,  when  a  friend 
stopped  all  night  with  the  old  reformer,  the  guest, 
on  hearing  a  noise  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night, 
asked  Luther  what  produced  it,     Luther  replied,  with 


60  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

the  most  perfect  composure  and  indifference,  "that  it 
was  only  the  devil,  who  was  a  frequent  visitor,  and 
often  made  a  disturbance  in  and  about  the  premises." 
It  is  also  written  of  Luther  that  at  one  time  his 
Satanic  Majesty  became  so  noisy  when  on  a  visit  to 
the  old  monk,  that  Luther  lost  his  temper  and  hurled 
his  inkstand  at  the  old  devil ;  and  it  is  recorded  as  a 
fact  that  the  stain  of  the  ink  can  be  seen  to  this  day 
on  the  walls  of  Luther's  private  room  in  the  castle  of 
Wartburg.  In  such  a  state  of  mind,  he  naturally 
accepted  with  implicit  faith  every  anecdote  of  Satanic 
miracles.  He  frequently  told,  in  his  public  addresses, 
how  an  aged  minister  had  been  interrupted  in  his  de- 
votions at  the  altar  by  the  devil,  who  grunted  behind 
#  him  like  a  hog.  He  also  proclaimed  that  on  another 
occasion  the  devil  appeared  in  court  as  a  lawyer,  and 
conducted  a  case  through  court;  and  he  added  that  he 
seemed  to  fill  the  place  with  the  utmost  propriety. 

Two  hundred  years  later  than  Luther  we  find  in 
England  a  law  under  which  many  a  poor  mortal  was 
put  to  death  for  the  supposed  crime  of  being  a  witch 
or  wizard.  But  science  and  religion  had  advanced 
far  enough  to  throw  their  clear  white  light  upon  the 
iniquity  of  such  a  statute  ;  and  in  obedience  to  the 
better  sentiment  of  the  times  the  British  Parliament 
repealed  the  law,  and  wiped  the  disgraceful  thing  from 
the  statutes  of  England.  But  when  it  was  done,  the 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England,  Sir  Matthew  Hale, 
and  other  great  historic  names,  held  up  their  hands  in 
holy  horror  at  the  radicalism  of  Parliament,  and  de- 
clared that  the  repeal  of  that  statute  was  evidence  of 
the  demoralization  of  the  times,  and  was  a  direct  blow 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  61 

at  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  British  Constitu- 
tion ;  and  the  men  who  did  it  were  denounced  as 
fanatics,  agitators,  and  humbugs.  All  manner  of 
epithets  were  applied  to  them  for  this  advanced  step. 

So  it  has  been,  and  so,  I  presume,  it  always  will 
be,  where  any  great  WTong  is  protected  by  law ;  and 
until  the  protection  is  removed  and  the  wrong  stands 
out  in  all  its  native  ugliness,  the  reformer  will  have 
to  stand  persecution.  But  whatever  progress  we  have 
made  in  the  past,  and  wliatever  advancement  we  may 
make  in  the  future,  will  depend  upon  the  number  of 
bold  spirits  that  each  age  may  jjroduce,  who  will 
stand  ready  to  attack  wrong  wherever  found,  whether 
protected  by  law  or  not. 

To  follow  the  history  of  demonology,  and  study 
the  effect  that  the  belief  in  the  supernatural  had  on 
the  minds  of  men  in  the  distant  past,  and  how  it 
affected  human  welfare  and  controlled  human  action, 
excites  a  deep  and  painful  interest  in  all  who  were 
thus  tormented ;  and  with  the  consideration  for  them 
comes  the  grateful  feeling  to  us  that  the  day  of  our 
l)irth  was  postponed  until  this  swarm  of  demons, 
witches,  and  familiar  spirits  were  compelled  to  flee 
from  the  light  of  our  brighter  civilization,  as  the 
thieves  and  burglars  are  driven  to  their  hiding-places 
by  the  light  of  day.  They  are  all  gone  from  us, 
fled  to  the  darker  corners  of  the  world,  still  to  tor- 
ment and  scare  the  ignorant  and  to  add  incalculable 
misery  to  human  existence. 

Having  cast  out  these  devils,  and  having  long 
since  had  our  houses  swept  and  garnished,  is  it  true 
that  the  seven  other  wicked  spirits  have  taken  pos- 


62  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

session,  and  is  our  last  state  worse  than  the  first  so  far 
as  invisible  torments  are  concerned  ? 

Mingled  with  our  rejoicing  that  the  supernat- 
ural Invisibles  are  driven  out  is  the  very  disagreeable 
realization  of  a  stubborn  fact  that  a  kindred  curse  is 
still  left  to  poison  human  enjoyment.  If  we  wish  to 
hand  over  to  posterity  a  civilization  with  more  hap- 
piness for  humanity,  then  we  must  look  at  this  evil  in 
all  its  phases,  and  at  least  weaken  its  power  if  we 
can  not  destroy  it. 

If  these  miserable  Some  Peoi")le  could  be  driven 
out;  if  this  modern  witchcraft  could  be  made  to  take 
its  departure,  and  seek  out  an  abode  in  the  dark 
corners  of  the  earth,  and  our  generation  be  free  from 
its  curse,  it  would  be  an  advance  and  upward  -step, 
and  add  incalculably  to  the  pleasure  of  living. 

Had  all  the  Invisibles  gone  together,  the  human 
with  the  supernatural,  it  would  have  been  the  era  of 
eras  in  the  history  of  man — a  blessed  consummation 
that  would  have  left  us  with  a  much  purer  religion 
and  a  brighter  civilization  than  we  have  now.  Kin- 
dred in  spirit  and  purpose,  both  alike  depending  on 
human  credulity  for  existence,  it  seems  to  be  a  mys- 
tery why  one  should  be  taken  and  the  other  left. 

It  remains  for  the  future  to  determine  whether, 
in  the  upward  march  of  human  progress,  the  human 
race  will  ever  be  able  to  shake  off  and  become  free 
from  all  invisible  torments,  compelling  them  to  fall 
back  to  worry  the  plodding  ranks  of  those  who  are 
coming  in  the  rear  of  our  advancing  civilization ; 
whether  human  credulity  will  ever  remain  so  weak 
as  to  carry  this  curse  along,  as  the  human  race  steps 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  63 

higher  into  the  clearer  light  and  reaches  the  broader 
plains  of  truth. 

It  may  not  be  wise  to  waste  time  in  speculating 
on  what  may  be  possible  or  probable  in  this  regard, 
but  rather  to  deal  with  these  same  Some  People  of 
the  living  present,  and  let  the  future  take  care  of 
itself.  As  I  have  said  before,  the  witchcraft  of  one 
hundred  years  ago  has  many  points  of  resemblance 
in  the  present  time.  In  both  their  mission  was  to 
torment  man,  and  the  spirit  of  both  is  evil.  No 
witch  ever  came  with  a  blessing  for  man,  but  was 
thought  to  send  disease,  tempest,  and  death.  She 
made  her  attack  on  man  at  all  points — his  property, 
his  family,  his  health,  and  his  life. 

The  Invisibles  of  to-day,  with  the  same  malevolent 
spirit,  confine  their  assaults  in  the  same  covert  way 
upon  the  character  of  people,  and  thus  indirectly 
effect  the  same  result ;  for  if  they  can  rob  people  of 
their  good  name  and  blast  their  reputation,  and  thus 
cause  them  to  lose  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all 
around  them,  then  their  property,  or  even  their  lives, 
lose  their  value,  which  makes  them,  as  Shakespeare 
says,  "  poor  indeed." 

In  the  days  of  the  former  witchcraft,  the  vicious 
and  revengeful  took  advantage  of  the  credulity  of  the 
times,  and  used  the  delusion  to  gratify  their  personal 
hate.  A  charge  of  witchcraft  was  sufficient,  without 
the  slightest  evidence,  to  bring  the  unfortunate  sub- 
ject of  the  accusation  to  punishment;  therefore,  if 
one  human  being  was  in  the  way  of  another,  that 
other  could  dispose  of  his  enemy  by  simply  making 
the  charge.     If  a  crime  was  committed,  the  criminal 


64  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

often  escaped  pimishment  by  preferring  the  charge  of 
witchcraft  against  his  accuser,  and,  by  so  doing,  not 
only  destroyed  the  credibility  of  the  witness,  but  his 
or  her  competency  to  appear  in  court  to  testify  in 
the  case. 

It  has  also  happened  in  the  administration  of 
justice  in  our  day  that  the  slanders  and  innuendoes  of 
Some  People  have  so  affected  the  standing  and  char- 
acter of  honest  witnesses  in  court  as  to  break  the 
force  of  their  evidence,  and,  by  the  aid  of  this  mod- 
ern witchcraft,  the  guilty  have  gone  unpunished. 

In  the  former  times,  while  all  the  old  delusions 
prevailed,  if  a  man  became  tired  of  his  wife  and  fell 
in  love  with  another  man's  wife  (and  they  used  to  do 
those  things  just  as  they  do  now),  and  she  recipro- 
cated his  tender  emotion,  the  two  could  jointly  or 
severally  prefer  the  charge  of  witchcraft  against  their 
nncongenial  mates,  and  have  them  put  to  death  as 
sorcerers,  and  thus  in  a  most  complete  and  effectual 
way  dispose  of  the  hindering  causes  of  their  happi- 
ness, and,  by  this  means,  secure  a  divorce  more  certain 
and  complete  than  could  be  obtained  either  in  Indiana 
or  Chicago.  The  two  loving  hearts  could  then  be 
united  in  matrimony,  as  grass-widows  and  widowers 
are  now,  with  nothing  more  to  disturb  their  married 
life  than  the  ghosts  of  the  departed. 

In  this  day  and  age  of  the  world  no  small  num- 
ber of  separations  and  divorces  are  the  result  of  this 
kindred  witchcraft  of  our  time.  The  Invisibles  com- 
municate to  the  world  that  on  a  certain  occasion  the 
husband  did  this  or  that,  or  the  wife  was  guilty  of 
such  an  impropriety;  and   a  credulous  and  unchari- 


The  /.\ visible  Some  People.  65 

table  world,  without  a  particle  of  evidence,  pro- 
nounces the  sentence  of  guilty;  and  a  separation  and 
divorce  is  not  unfrequently  the  result. 

It  would  seem  to  be  true  that,  while  the  witch- 
craft of  former  times  has  passed  away,  yet  the  credu- 
lity that  gave  it  life  and  power  still  remains,  and 
that  there  is  now  the  same  inclination  to  accept 
without  evidence  any  statement  affecting  the  charac- 
ter, as  true,  however  false  and  absurd  it  may  be,  and 
wanting  in  responsible  authority. 

This  weakness  in  human  credulity  is  now,  as  then, 
giving  life  and  power  to  the  Invisibles.  It  is  not 
more  strange  that  the  intelligent  scholar  of  long 
ago  should  accept  the  absurd  doctrine  of  witchcraft 
than  that  his  more  cultivated  representative  of  to-day 
should  accept,  without  any  evidence,  the  monstrous 
fabrications  in  regard  to  the  motives  and  actions  of 
his  neighbors  on  the  bare  authority  of  the  Invisible 
Some  People  of  the  community. 

The  state  of  mind  that  accepts  the  one  is  very 
similar  to  the  mental  condition  that  gives  credence  to 
the  other.  It  is,  therefore,  an  undeniable  fact  that 
the  people  of  to-day  hold  an  unspotted  reputation — 
the  dearest  thing  on  earth — by  a  very  slight  tenure. 
The  credulity  of  the  times  is  such  in  regard  to  all 
charges  against  the  character  of  people  that  the 
breath  of  scandal,  if  not  able  in  all  cases  to  change 
it  from  the  whitest  purity  to  the  blackest  infamy,  is 
ever  sufficient  to  so  tarnish  it  that  the  unfortunate 
subject  of  the  accusation  stands  suspected  and  watched 
among  his  fellow-mortals. 

Was  it  any  more  discreditable  to  the  peo])le  of  one 
5 


66  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

hundred  years  ago  to  accept  the  charge,  unsupported 
by  evidence,  that  human  action  was  the  result  of  de- 
moniacal possession,  than  it  is  for  us,  who  claim  to  be 
so  much  Aviser  than  they,  to  believe,  without  any  con- 
firmation, that  evil  and  sinister  motives  influence 
human  conduct  that  to  all  appearance  was  prompted 
by  exactly  the  opposite?  With  all  our  religion  and 
civilization,  with  all  the  loud  boasting  about  the 
grand  times  in  which  we  live,  we  can  scarcely  find  a 
community  in  all  this  land  where  this  evil  is  not  stir- 
ring up  a  great  deal  of  discord  and  strife. 

In  the  old  English  form  of  pleading  in  suits  to 
eject  persons  from  possession,  they  claimed  the  names 
of  the  real  parties  to  the  action  did  not  appear  in  the 
record ;  but  for  some  reason,  I  know  not  what,  ficti- 
tious names  were  substituted  as  the  plaintiff  and  de- 
fendant; and  these  fictions  were  called  Richard  Roe 
for  one  and  John  Doe  for  the  other.  With  these 
unreal  parties  to  the  action,  the  battle  for  the  posses- 
sion of  the  land  was  fought.  If  Richard  was  stronger 
than  John  in  the  war  of  words  in  the  pleadings,  or 
had  the  most  convincing  evidence,  then  some  real 
man,  and  his  family  too  (if  he  had  one),  were  put 
out  of  the  possession  of  their  habitation,  and  could 
no  longer  read  their  title  clear  because  of  the  doings 
of  the  invisible,  intangible,  unreal  Richard  Roe. 

And  so  in  this  enlightened  and  Christian  period 
of  the  world's  history,  there  is  constant  danger  that 
real  persons  may  be  ousted  of  their  good  name,  and  put 
out  of  possession  of  a  reputation  that  they  have  spent 
all  their  lives  to  acquire  by  persons  who  are  as  mythical 
as  Richard  Roe.     In  the  history  of  the  witchcraft  de- 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  67 

lusion,  the  statistics  show  that  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  people  have  been  tried,  found  guilty,  and 
put  to  death  for  the  crime  of  being  a  witch  or  wiz- 
ard— a  crime  that  never  had  an  existence  except  in 
the  heated  imagination  and  distempered  fancy  of 
ignorant  and  credulous  humanity.  It  is  a  most'  in- 
human and  bloody  record,  awakening  the  most  tender 
sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  victims  of  the  dreadful 
delusion.  The  sea  of  misery  flowing  from  it  is  too 
wide  and  deep  for  human  comprehension. 

Turning  to  the  modern  witchcraft,  while  we  can 
not  gather  up  the  statistics  of  its  dreadful  work,  yet 
we  have  on  every  hand  the  most  convincing  evidence 
that  it  is  slaughtering  reputations  in  much  greater 
numbers,  and  sweeping  away  good  names  by  ac- 
cusations of  which  the  accused  are  as  innocent  as  were 
the  victims  of  the  ancient  delusion.  While  the 
former  extinguished  the  life  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand, or  even  more  than  that,  the  latter  has  destroyed 
the  peace  and  poisoned  the  enjoyment  of  millions, 
and  produced  an  ocean  of  misery  as  boundless  and 
fathomless  as  the  other. 

Again,  in  the  days  of  witchcraft  it  is  recorded  as 
a  fact  in  the  history  of  that  superstition  that  the 
charge  of  being  a  witch  was  one  of  the  steps  often 
taken  to  obtain  revenge  of  an  enemy.  When  two 
persons  had  a  difficulty  in  those  days  that  stirred 
up  all  the  bad  blood  of  their  natures,  both  were  in 
haste  to  first  fasten  the  obnoxious  charge  on  the 
other. 

In  these  days  revenge  is  sought  by  a  resort  to  the 
witchcraft  of  the   times,   by  saying  of  those  against 


68  The  Ini'isible  Some  People. 

whom  hate  and  ill-will  are  directed :  "  Some  people 
say,"  '*  If  all  rumors  be  true/'  "  There  is  a  wonder- 
ful amount  of  talk,"  "  It  is  generally  believed," 
"There  is  evidently  something  wrong,"  "It  has  a 
mysterious  look."  Whenever  you  hear  persons  use 
these  and  kindred  phrases,  you  may  conclude  that 
they  have  been  among  the  witches,  and  are  the 
chosen  mediums  to  communicate  the  inventions  of 
the  Invisibles.  If  you  can  not  stop  their  mouths, 
you  can  stop  your  own  ears  and  possibly  hold  your 
own  tongues. 

I  say  possibly  hold  your  own  tongues,  for  the 
reason  that  this  thing  of  holding  the  tongue  is  a  tre- 
mendous achievement,  and  very  few  attain  the  art  to 
perfection.  I  have  known  people  that  could  hold 
office — plenty  of  them.  Indeed,  there  do  not  seem  to 
be  offices  enough  to  go  round.  I  have  known  people 
that  could  hold  titles  to  real  estate — that  could  hold 
money  and  stocks  and  bonds  easy  enough.  They 
could  hold  their  own  and  very  considerable  that  be- 
longs to  their  creditors ;  but  to  get  a  good  grip  on 
their  tongues,  and  hold  them  from  wagging,  seems  to 
be  beyond  their  holding  power. 

You  have  all  heard  the  old  conundrum — it  is 
almost  too  old  to  repeat — "  Why  does  a  dog  wag  its 
tail?"  The  correct  and  logical  answer  is,  "Because 
the  dog  is  the  strongest."  But  if  you  ask  why  men 
and  women  wag  their  tongues,  the  old-dog  answer 
will  not  do,  because  we  sometimes  find  tongues  wag- 
ging men  and  women,  and  shaking  them  up  fearfully. 

The  mediums  the  Invisible  Some  People  use  to 
communicate  with  the  world  are  properly  divided  into 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  69 

two  classes — the  intentional  slanderers,  and  the  un- 
thinking tattlers  who  indulge  in  gossip  from  the  force 
of  habit.  The  malicious  class  are  mostly  men,  while 
the  other  class  are  chiefly  women ;  yet  all  kinds  can 
be  found  in  both  sexes. 

I  trust  none  of  the  ladies  here  present  will  look 
black  at  me  for  this  apparently  savage  attack  upon 
their  sex.  Before  you  condemn  me,  allow  me  to  ex- 
plain;  for  if  I  succeed  in  getting  the  good  opinion 
of  anybody  in  this  audience  in  delivering  this  lec- 
ture, I  desire  above  all  things  to  have  the  approba- 
tion of  the  ladies  in  my  presence ;  and  I  will  ex- 
plain by  telling  what  once  occurred  right  in  my 
own  house — "  taken  by  our  artist  on  the  spot,"  as 
they  say. 

One  day,  when  I  was  at  home,  a  good  neighbor 
woman — a  very  fair  specimen  of  the  American 
woman — made  a  fashionable  call  on  my  wife.  Now, 
all  you  ladies  know  what  a  fashionable  call  is.  You 
know  it  does  not  amount  to  much  anyway.  You 
simply  put  on  your  good  clothes,  and  strike  out;  and 
that  is  about  all  there  is  in  it.  But  it  did  amount  to 
something  more  in  this  case;  for  after  due  inspection 
of  the  good  wardrobe,  the  good  woman  lingered 
awhile  and  talked  about  the  splendid  weather  we 
were  having — about  the  glorious  revival  of  religion 
we  had  recently  had  in  our  Church;  and  she  also 
made  some  scattering  remarks  about  the  latest  style 
of  woman's  hat.  Several  tremendous  questions  were 
disposed  of  in  a  very  short  time.  Then  she  gently  took 
up  the  neighbors.  She  said  of  one  neighbor :  "  He 
is  a  splendid  fellow — great,  big  heart,  and  noble,  jolly, 


70  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

self-sacrificing  spirit;  the  very  life  of  the  town  and 
the  life  of  our  circle."  Indeed,  she  thought  our  so- 
ciety would  be  very  flat  and  insipid  if  it  were  not  for 
that  good  fellow,  who  was  always  ready  to  spend  any 
amount  of  time  or  money  that  the  balance  of  us 
should  have  a  good  time,  and  never  seemed  to  care 
anything  about  himself;  and  went  on  and  on,  and 
gave  a  great  many  other  fine  points  in  his  character, 
and  carried  it  to  such  an  extent  that,  I  am  ashamed  to 
say,  I  was  almost  on  the  point  of  being  envious  of 
him.  But  before  I  had  quite  reached  that  disagree- 
able state  of  mind  she  dropped  her  voice — it  was  a 
sort  of  deprecatory,  confidential  whisper — and  said  to 
my  wife :  "  Some  People  say  he  drinks."  Of  course 
I  did  not  envy  him  any  more  after  that. 

And  of  another  she  said  that  she  was  the  most  re- 
ligious person  she  ever  saw,  the  very  highest  type  of 
Christian  character;  and  during  the  revival  she  was 
present  at  every  meeting,  and  seemed  to  know  just 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it — was  a  grand  assistance 
to  the  pastor,  and  inspired  the  balance  of  us  to  such 
zeal  and  enthusiasm  that  she  thought  that  the  success 
of  the  revival  should  be  given  largely  to  the  credit  of 
that  good  woman ;  and  then  she  gave  divers  and 
sundry  other  reasons  why  she  thought  that  that 
woman  was  the  most  devoted  Christian  that  ever  was ; 
and — then  she  dropped  into  a  whisper  again,  and 
said:  "But  Some  People  say  she  is  not  half  as  relig- 
ious as  she  appears  to  be." 

And  of  another  neighbor  she  said :  "  He  is  the 
wealthiest  man  in  town,  lives  in  the  finest  style,  gives 
the    most  magnificent   entertainments,  has  the  finest 


The  Lw'isible  Some  People.  71 

turn-out  of  any  one  in  town.  His  family  always 
appears  better  dressed  than  any  one  else ;  he  gives 
his  money  liberally  to  everything  that  comes  along; 
and  everybody  thinks  he  is  exceedingly  rich." 
Then  she  dropped  into  a  whisper  again,  and  said : 
"  But  Some  People  say  he  would  not  be  worth  a  cent 
if  his  debts  were  all  paid." 

In  that  way  she  went  around  over  the  whole  town, 
giving  each  a  dab  except  our  next-door  neighbor, 
Mrs.  M.  She  did  not  say  a  word  about  her.  Now, 
while  all  this  was  going  on,  I  was  pretending  to 
read  the  newspaper — for  she  was  calling  on  my 
wife  and  not  on  me — but  I  had  my  weather  ear  open 
all  the  while. 

I  finally  laid  down  my  paper,  and  I  said  to  her : 
"  What  do  Some  People  say  about  Mrs.  M.,  our  next- 
door  neighbor?"  She  turned  upon  me,  every  feather 
in  her  hat  quivered,  and  her  eyes  fairly  snapped,  and 
she  said :  "  Sir,  you  will  have  to  ask  somebody  else. 
I  have  not  returned  ]\[rs.  M.'s  last  call,  and  I  never 
intend  to."  I  said  :  ''  I  beg  your  pardon,  madam ;  I 
did  not  know  that  there  Mas  any  difficulty  between 
you  and  Mrs.  M.,  or  I  should  not  have  spoken  of 
her."  "You  need  not  commence  about  that  now. 
There  is  no  personal  difficulty  between  Mrs.  M.  and 
myself,  but  I  can  not  affi^rd  to  compromise  myself  by 
calling  upon  her."  "  What  is  there  about  our 
neighbor  that  will  compromise  you,  me,  or  anybody 
else,  I  want  to  know?"  "AVell,"  said  she,  "  you 
needn't  be  so  snappish  about.it;"  and  then  looking 
at  me  with  a  great  deal  of  pity,  as  if  I  were  the  most 
ignorant   man    in    the    whole   community,    she   said: 


72  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

"  AVell,  Mr.  Ciuiiback,  if  you  do  not  know  it,  every 
other  gentleman  and  lady  in  this  town  does  know  it, 
that  Mrs.  M.  talks  about  her  neighbors,  and  if 
there  is  anything  on  earth  I  despise  it  is  that.  I  will 
not  associate  with  any  woman  that  talks  about  her 
neighbors." 

Now,  this  is  the  kind  of  Avoman  I  was  referring 
to,  ladies.  I  did  not  have  the  slightest  reference  to 
any  of  you  at  all,  and  that  makes  it  all  right,  I  hope  ; 
so  let  us  part  good  friends  at  any  rate. 

One  night,  down  in  Southern  Indiana,  where  I 
delivered  this  lecture,  as  we  were  going  down  the 
stairs  at  the  opera-house  after  the  lecture  was  over, 
I  heard  the  ladies  talking  about  this  part  of  the  lec- 
ture. I  tried  my  level  best  not  to  hear  anything  they 
said ;  for  you  know  it  is  mean  to  eavesdrop,  and  I 
wanted  to  be  honest ;  and  then  I  also  thought  if  I  did 
hear,  it  would  not  contribute  anything  to  my  happi- 
ness, so  I  did  not  hear  much.  But  finally  one  woman 
screamed  out,  in  a  sort  of  dying-swan  tone,  clear  above 
the  din  and  clatter  on  the  stairway,  and  said :  "  O,  I 
am  so  sorry  that  Mrs.  Jonas  was  not  here  to-night  to 
have  heard  that  part  of  the  lecture !"  I  was  struck 
with  the  generosity  of  the  woman  in  giving  all  that 
part  of  the  lecture  to  Mrs.  Jonas. 

The  men,  I  regret  to  have  it  to  say,  are  in  most 
cases  prompted  by  malice  in  their  assaults  upon  the 
character  of  people.  There  may  be  a  man  here  or 
there,  a  shallow-pated  gabbler,  who  frequents  public 
places  and  gives  his  opinion  without  malice,  but  even 
as  a  slanderer  he  is  voted  a  failure  and  an  intolerable 
bore.     Men  generally,  when  they  talk  scandal,  do  it 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  73 

for  the  express  purpose  of  hurting  somebody;  and 
the  more  damage  they  imagine  they  have  done,  the 
keener  is  their  enjoyment  of  their  devilish  work. 

There  are  some  men  who  will  tell  a  lie,  and,  if 
necessary,  will  swear  to  it,  to  damage  the  reputation 
of  a  neighbor.  How  often  in  our  courts  of  justice, 
when  men  are  called  to  testify  as  to  the  character  of 
other  witnesses,  has  this  been  manifest !  A  witness  is 
put  on  the  stand  to  testify  as  to  the  character  of 
another  witness,  and  is  asked  if  he  is  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  witness  sought  to  be  impeached, 
from  the  statements  of  the  people  of  his  neighbor- 
hood, and  the  witness  answers  promptly  that  he  is  ac- 
quainted with  his  character.  He  is  then  asked  if 
that  character  is  good  or  bad,  and  he  promptly  re- 
plies, and  with  a  malicious  relish,  that  "  his  character 
is  very  bad,  and  everybody  says  so." 

Fortunately  for  truth  and  justice,  a  cross-examina- 
tion of  the  witness  is  the  next  thing  in  order,  and  the 
opposing  counsel  asks  him  to  state  to  the  court  and 
jury  the  names  of  the  persons  who  have  made  state- 
ments derogatory  to  the  character,  and  to  state  the 
language  in  each  particular  case.  Now  the  troubles 
of  the  perjured  slanderer  begin,  and  he  fails  to  mention 
any  names,  but  undertakes  to  sustain  himself  by  in- 
sisting that  Some  People  have  given  the  witness  a 
very  bad  name  in  his  neighborhood.  Who  these 
Some  People  are  he  can  not  tell.  They  are  the  Iuvi?«- 
ible  Some  People  that  I  am  talking  about.  They  can 
not  be  reached  by  the  process  of  the  court,  as  they 
are  not  so  obliging  as  Katie  King,  of  Boston,  to  put 
on  a  material  body  that  might  be  seized  by  the  sheriff 


74  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

and  brought  into  court.  A  searching  cross-examina- 
tion does  the  business  for  all  such  witnesses,  and  they 
generally  leave  the  stand  having  made  this  impres- 
sion, if  no  other,  that  they  are  willing  to  defame  their 
neighbors,  even  if  they  have  to  resort  to  falsehood 
and  perjury  to  do  so. 

This  suggests  a  most  successful  remedy  for  this 
great  evil.  If  the  good  men  and  the  good  women 
would  organize  themselves  into  a  kind  of  social  court, 
and  put  these  defamers  through  a  most  searching 
cross-examination,  and  thus  compel  them  to  admit 
that  these  Some  People  that  they  are  constantly  quot- 
ing have  no  existence  in  fact  outside  of  the  brain  of 
the  slanderer,  we  would  soon  find  that  the  mediums 
of  communication  would  rapidly  disappear,  and  this 
modern  witchery  would  no  longer  tarnish  our  civili- 
zation and  religion. 

The  spirit  of  this  evil  work,  with  the  shallow  cre- 
dulity that  fosters  and  encourages  it,  is  one  of  the 
hopeless  signs  of  the  times,  and  takes  the  point  off  our 
boastinp;  that  we  are  so  much  further  on  the  road  to 
perfection  than  those  who  ha\^  gone  before  us.  It  not 
only  undertakes  to  put  its  false  estimate  on  all  human 
action,  but  it  claims  to  dive  down  deep  into  the  se- 
crets of  every  human  soul,  and  always  brings  forth 
the  meanest  and  most  sordid  motives  for  the  very 
best  acts  of  man,  and  boldly  proclaims  that  these  put 
in  operation  what  charity  and  truth  would  have  de- 
clared was  good  and  benevolent  in  spirit  as  well  as 
in  deed. 

If  the  account  of  human  life  is  faithfully  kept, 
and  the  credits  wdiich  humanity  arc  justly  entitled  to 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  75 

are  placed  on  the  proper  side  of  the  ledger,  and  tha 
balance  honestly  struck,  the  result  will  still  show  that 
we  are  no  better  than  we  ought  to  be.  In  the  name 
of  justice  and  fairness,  let  not  this  modern  witchery 
cheat  us  out  of  credits  without  which  we  are  hope- 
lessly bankrupt. 

In  the  exciting  contests  of  human  life  for  wealth 
and  position,  our  poor  human  nature  develops  a 
wonderful  amount  of  envy,  jealousy,  and  often  the 
bitterest  hate.  The  hindmost  in  the  race  are  ex- 
posed to  the  temptation  to  resort  to  detraction  as  a 
sort  of  comfort  for  the  bruises  they  have  received, 
and  a  solace  for  their  defeats.  They  open  commu- 
nication with  Invisibles,  and  endeavor  by  floods  of 
scandal  to  sweep  away  the  good  name  of  all  who 
have  been  more  fortunate  than  they.     Byron  says: 

"  He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind 
Must  look  down  on  the  hate  of  those  below." 

It  must  be  confessed  that,  in  many  cases,  there  can 
not  be  found  even  this  apology  to  justify  or  palliate 
this  demon-like  trait  in  mortals.  It  seems  that  many 
take  to  slander  to  gratify  a  morbid  appetite  they 
seem  to  have  for  it.  All  such  could  not  sleep  at 
night  unless  they  have  the  comforting  assurance  in 
their  own  minds  that  during  the  day  they  Jiave  dam- 
aged the  good  name  of  some  fellow-mortal  or  made 
their  best  effort  to  do  so. 

The  slanderer  belongs  to  no  party  or  sect  or 
class  of  society.  He  is  doing  his  evil  work  in 
good  and  bad  society  alike — in  the  church,  in  politics, 
in  society  at  large — everywhere  may  be  found  the 
poison  from  the  slanderous  tongue. 


76  The  Ixi'isible  Some  People. 

While  I  have  given  this  subject  some  thought  and 
reflection,  still  I  regret  to  say  that  I  am  not  able  to 
furnish  you  such  a  description  of  the  gossiper  tribe, 
or  to  give  you  the  plans  and  specifications  so  def- 
initely, that  they  may  be  known  from  other  folks. 
I  am  in  the  same  unfortunate  dilemma  as  the  man 
away  back  forty  years  ago,  a  very  wealthy  man  in  New 
England,  who  got  tired  of  society,  tired  of  jiolitics, 
tired  of  religion,  tired  of  everything  and  everybody; 
so  he  sold  out  all  of  his  great  possessions,  and  went 
away  out  West,  to  what  was  then  called  the  American 
Desert,  and  built  him  a  house  hundreds  of  miles 
beyond  the  border-laud  of  civilization.  It  is  difficult 
to  tell  what  made  him  do  so. 

The  question  has  been  asked,  "  Is  life  worth  liv- 
ing?" and  the  best  answer  that  has  ever  been  given 
to  the  question  is  that  of  Punch,  who  said  "  that  it 
depended  entirely  on  the  liver.''  It  may  be  this 
man  had  a  torpid  liver.  But  as  the  star  of  em- 
pire rapidly  moved  westward,  he  again  soon  found 
himself  surrounded  by  civilization;  and  one  day  a 
commissioner  from  the  Government  knocked  at 
his  door,  and  said  that  the  Government  desired  his 
house  for  the  meeting  of  the  first  Territorial  Legis- 
lature. In  an  unguarded  moment  he  consented,  and 
put  his  house  in  shape  for  that  tremendous  event. 
But,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  he  put  up  a  card  in 
the  principal  reception-room  of  his  house,  aud  wrote 
this  on  the  card  in  great  big  letters :  "  Loafers  arc 
requested  in  this  house  not  to  associate  with  the 
members  of  the  Legislature,  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  tell  the  one  from  the  other." 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  77 

It  is  equally  difficult,  on  sight,  to  distinguish  the 
slanderer  from  the  rest  of  us.  The  polished  and 
polite  indulge  in  this  vice  as  well  as  the  vulgar  and 
degraded.  The  drunken,  swaggering,  profane  wretch, 
and  the  shameless  hypocrite  attempting  to  cover  in- 
bred meanness  with  the  sham  piety  of  a  Peck- 
sniff or  the  hollow  humility  of  a  Uriah  Heep,  have 
alike  the  same  relish  for  a  dish  of  scandal.  If  there 
be  any  distinguishing  mark  which  all  slanderers  have 
in  common,  it  is  a  very  weak  and  feeble  ability 
to  mind  their  own  business,  and  a  well-developed 
faculty  to  attend  to  other  people's  affairs.  They  cul- 
tivate the  latter  gift  for  the  same  reason  that  Mark 
Twain  gave  for  not  keeping  his  promises.  He  said 
that  he  had  a  large  and  vigorous  faculty  for  making 
promises,  but  a  very  feeble  one  for  keeping  them,  but 
contended  that  it  is  better  to  have  one  strong  and 
healthy  faculty  than  two  weak  and  sickly  ones. 

Confucius,  the  great  Chinese  philosopher,  said 
more  than  twenty  centuries  ago:  "The  disease  of  men 
is  this, — that  they  neglect  their  own  fields,  and  go 
and  weed  the  fields  of  others;  and  what  they  require 
from  others  is  great,  while  what  they  lay  upon  them- 
selves is  verv  light." 

AVhere  the  power  of  these  Invisibles  is  most  felt, 
and  in  what  place  they  do  the  most  mischief,  it  is  not 
easy  to  determine.  If  there  be  one  place  more  than 
another  where  their  influence  is  most  potent  for  evil, 
it  is  in  religious  associations.  Unfortunately  for  re- 
ligion, there  may  be  found  in  almost  every  religious 
society  some  persons  who  claim  that  they  possess 
the  most  of  the  religion  of  the  particular  Church  of 


78  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

which  they  are  members;  and,  to  use  a  Wall  Street 
phrase,  they  hold  most  of  the  stock,  and  have  made 
a  "  corner  "  on  all  the  Christian  graces  of  the  Church. 
They  make  their  phylacteries  so  broad  that  those  the 
old  Pharisees  used  to  wear  would  appear  exceedingly 
narrow  to  them.  The  truth  is,  we  can  beat  the  Jews 
on  Pharisees.  If  the  original  stock  of  that  century 
were  here,  they  would  quit  the  business.  They 
could  not  compete  with  our  modern  Pharisees.  The 
fact  is,  their  hearts  are  nests  wherein  are  hatched  out 
all  the  whole  brood  of  malevolent  actions  and  pur- 
poses, to  conceal  which  from  human  inspection  they 
make  a  loud  and  constant  profession  of  their  own 
perfection,  and  continually  protest  that  they  have 
nothing  but  gentleness  in  their  spirits. 

"In  robes  of  seeming  truth  and  trust 
Came  sly  dissimulation, 
And  underneath  a  gilded  crust 
Lurked  dirty  defamation." 

They  never  lose  an  opportunity  to  sound  a 
trumpet  proclaiming  their  own  whiteness  and  purity. 
In  order  that  they  may  appear  the  whitest  in  the 
flock,  they  spend  all  their  spare  time  in  blackening  the 
rest  of  the  fold.  To  keep  their  own  defects  from 
being  observed,  they  are  constantly  calling  attention 
to  the  defects  that  they  insist  other  people  have. 

Josh  Billings  describes  them  as  persons  who 
"  consider  themselves  as  moral  half-bushels,  with 
which  they  measure  all  the  follies  of  everybody  else." 
This  class  of  slanderers  are  the  most  artful  and  ac- 
complished of  the  whole  tribe  of  vilifiers,  and  their 
power  for  evil    is   consequently    the  greatest.     They 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  79 

deceive  the  simple  and  unsuspeetiag,  by  constantly 
claiming  that  they  are  prompted  to  speak  disparag- 
ingly of  others  from  a  deep  and  abiding  sense  of 
duty.  They  study  carefully  the  mental  and  moral 
depth  of  all  around  them.  To  the  careful  and 
thoughtful  they  will  drop  a  sugar-coated  hint  against 
a  neighbor,  to  excite  prejudice  and  bias  judgment. 
To  the  shallow  and  gossipy  they  will  administer  a 
"wholesale  dose  of  scandal,  to  be  retailed  by  them. 
To  real  good,  pious  people,  they  will  go  with  hypo- 
critical tears,  and  deplore  the  faults  of  others,  and 
beg  them  to  turn  the  erring  ones  into  the  paths  of 
right. 

The  great  English  poet  has  well  described  all 
such  in  one  line  : 

"In  hopes  to  merit  heaven  by  making  earth  a  hell." 

While  these  Invisibles  in  Church  infuse  activity 
among  the  members,  and  keep  them  constantly  on 
the  alert,  it  is  not  that  spirituality  that  makes  Satan 
tremble.  A  Church  annoyed  with  a  few  of  these 
spirits  is  very  much  in  the  condition  of  the  army 
which  has  marched  far  into  the  enemy's  country. 
So  many  men  must  be  detailed  to  skirmish  with 
guerrillas,  and  protect  the  lines  and  guard  the  rear, 
that  but  few  soldiers  are  left  for  effective  fighting 
service. 

There  are  some  Churches  of  whom  it  may  be  said 
that  pastor  and  people  are  constantly  engaged  in  at- 
tempting to  protect  themselves  from  the  assaults  of 
this  enemy  within  their  lines,  and  have  but  little 
time  for  any  other  duty ;  and  if  they  had,  their  war- 


80  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

fare  for  self-protectiou  is  by  no  means  calculated  to 
promote  that  growth  in  grace  and  pious  development 
that  mark  the  character  of  the  perfect  Christian. 
All  such  Churches,  who  promise  pea(;e  and  rest  to  the 
sinners  who  may  join  them,  will  find  themselves  un- 
able to  perform  the  contract. 

During  the  late  war,  two  soldiers  enlisted  from 
the  same  town,  in  the  same  regiment  and  company, 
and  slept  in  the  same  tent,  under  the  same  blanket. 
One  night  they  were  talking  about  the  war,  the 
causes  of  it,  and  their  connection  with  it,  and  one  of 
them  said  to  the  other : 

''  Now,  1  \vant  to  improve  this  opportunity  to  ask 
you  a  question  that  has  been  a  long  time  on  my  mind, 
and  has  been  a  great  mystery  to  me." 

"  AVhat  is  it?"  said  the  other  one. 

"  What  made  you  enlist  in  the  army  at  all?"  said 
the  first;  "  it  has  always  been  a  surprise  to  me." 

And  the  wicked  wretch  replied  (now  I  do  not 
want  to  be  understood  as  indorsing  the  reply,  but 
simply  state  a  small  portion  of  the  history  of  the  late 
war)  that  he  was  a  married  man,  and  that  he  did  not 
like  war,  but  joined  the  army  that  he  might  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  peace. 

I  would  not  speak  to  that  man  to-morrow  if  I 
would  meet  him ;  and  if  he  is  on  the  pension-roll,  I 
hope  they  will  strike  him  off;  and  if  he  has  an  office, 
I  hope  they  will  discharge  him  as  an  offensive  partisan, 
or  get  rid  of  him  in  any  way. 

Many  a  good  Christian  man  has  fled  from  his 
Christian  home  in  the  Church,  and  joined  the  army 
outside  for  the  same  reason.    These  Invisibles  are  not 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  81 

partial  to  any  denomination  or  sect.  They  are  essen- 
tially non-sectarian,  and  will  attach  themselves  to  any 
Church  that  will  furnish  the  medium  through  which 
they  can  destroy  the  effectiveness  of  the  organization. 
You  can  not  terrify  them  with  the  loudest  shout- 
ing, by  total  immersion  in  the  deepest  water,  nor  by 
threats  of  eternal  punishment. 

In  old  times  the  superstitious  used  to  nail  a  horse- 
shoe over  the  door  to  keep  the  witches  out ;  and  it  is 
asserted  as  an  historical  fact  that  no  witch  could  cross 
any  threshold  thus  guarded — that  they  howled  with 
rage  and  disappointment  on  the  outer  walls.  If  some 
new  mode  of  church  architecture  could  be  devised,  or 
some  new  confession  of  faith  or  creed  or  discipline 
could  be  conceived  that  would,  with  the  same  effective- 
ness, keep  out  this  modern  witchcraft  from  the  house 
of  God,  the  originator  of  the  plan  would  be  entitled 
to  take  the  highest  seat  among  the  noble  band  of  re- 
formers that  have  blessed  the  Church  and  the  world; 
and  in  all  coming  time  his  name  and  fame  would 
grow  brighter  and  brighter,  and  the  millennium  would 
come  many  generations  sooner. 

Politics  is  a  most  inviting  field  for  this  invisible 
power.  Here  the  demand  for  scandal  is  so  persistent 
that  the  Invisibles  can  scarcely  supply  the  ncAvspapcrs, 
much  less  the  army  of  hungry  partisan  gossips,  who 
are  as  eager  for  their  inventions  as  the  newsboys  are 
for  an  extra  edition  of  a  paper  containing  a  first-class 
sensation.  In  politics,  therefore,  their  inventions  are 
so  hastily  conceived,  and  sent  forth  in  such  an  unfin- 
ished state,  without  even  a  decent  garb  of  probability 
about    them,  and    there    are    so   many  interested    in 

6 


82  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

exploding  their  fabrications  and  bringing  them  to 
naught,  that  they  really  do  less  harm  here  than  any- 
where else. 

They  do  succeed  in  surrounding  the  candidacy 
for  office  with  such  an  offensive  atmosphere  that  good 
men  with  a  white  reputation,  who  are  a  little  timid, 
have  refused  to  make  the  venture.  It  is,  however,  a 
very  gratifying  fact  that,  in  all  cases  where  the  posi- 
tion is  exalted  and  the  salary  liberal,  there  have  ever 
been  found  men  who  could  command  the  nerve,  and, 
for  the  sake  of  the  public  good,  risk  their  reputation, 
and  jjlunge  into  the  depths  where  these  poisonous 
gases  and  noxious  vajjors  were  the  densest,  fearless 
of  political  asphyxia.  All  such  deserve  well  of  their 
country,  and  they  generally  receive  all  they  deserve, 
and  more  too.  If  these  Invisibles  could  be  driven  out 
of  the  Church  and  put  out  of  society  at  large,  and  could 
be  made  to  enter  into  the  herd  of  political  swine  that 
have  succeeded  in  making  politics  so  hoggish,  and  the 
whole  run  down  the  steepest  place  into  the  deepest 
sea,  it  would  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  man. 

In  society  at  large,  outside  of  all  organizations, 
political  or  religious,  is  a  most  inviting  field  for  the 
fiendish  work  of  this  modern  witchcraft,  and  Avell  do 
the  Invisibles  occupy  and  cultivate  it.  Their  dark  pur- 
poses and  malignant  spirit  are  quite  as  manifest  here 
as  elsewhere,  and,  as  they  are  unceasing  in  their  efforts, 
they  too  often  accomplish  their  diabolical  designs. 
In  every  cup  of  joy  they  seek  to  drop  their  poison; 
in  every  circle  of  happiness  they  aim  to  introduce 
misery ;   in  every  fountain   of   pure   friendship   they 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  83 

endeavor  to  mingle  hate  and  ill-will;  and  everywhere, 
in  place  of  harmony,  they  strive  to  substitute  discord. 

Against  these  and  all  other  propitious  conditions 
of  individuals  and  communities  they  aim  their  poison- 
ous and  destructive  darts  with  the  most  intense  malev- 
olence. Especially  does  human  friendshijD — that 
sweetest  cup  to  mortals  given — excite  their  bitterest 
hate,  and  call  forth  their  best  efforts  to  compass  its 
destruction.  How  well  they  succeed  let  the  every -day 
experience  and  observation  of  the  human  race  answer. 
Here  and  there  a  friendship  may  remain,  and  a  confi- 
dence be  unbroken  by  this  invisible  power,  until  death 
shall  separate  the  kindred  and  congenial  souls.  Con- 
fidence may  grow  and  strengthen  in  some  few  in- 
stances, heedless  of  the  venomous  whispers  of  the 
imps  of  the  Invisibles;  yet  in  the  present  state  of 
human  credulity,  this  demon-like  agency  can  gen- 
erally beget  distrust  and  array  friend  against  friend. 

It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  human  friendship 
seems  to  be  too  weak  to  stand  up  against  the  slander 
that  Shakespeare  describes  as  having  an  edge  sharper 
than  the  sword,  and  whose  tongue  outvenoms  all  the 
worms  of  the  Xile.  It  often  happens  that  many  a 
poor  victim  of  this  malignant  power,  after  having 
been  robbed  of  that  friend  and  deprived  of  tl^is  con- 
fidence, goes  on  the  remainder  of  his  life's  journey 
with  a  broken  heart, — 

"Like  one  that  on  some  lonesonie  road, 
Doth  walk  with  fear  and  dread; 
And  having  once  turned  round,  walks  on, 

And  turns  no  more  his  head, 
Because  he  knows  a  frightful  fiend 
*  Doth  close  behind  him  tread." 


84  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

Many,  I  am  fully  conscious,  will  hastily  pronounce 
this  picture  of  the  power  of  the  Invisibles  as  too 
highly  colored.  A  little  honest  reflection  will  re- 
move all  such  impressions,  and  complete  assent  will 
he  given  to  the  faithfulness  of  the  portrait.  Where 
is  the  human  heart  but  contains  within  its  secret 
chambers  some  unjust  bias  or  prejudice  against 
others — monstrous  lies  deposited  there  by  the  Invis- 
ibles, which  have  given  such  obliquity  to  the  vision  that 
nothing  but  evil  can  be  seen  in  the  life  of  a  neighbor 
that  was  really  pure  and  good.  In  whose  life  ex- 
perience is  there  not  some  broken  friendship,  or  the 
failure  to  secure  associations  that  would  be  sweet  and 
delightful  but  for  the  interference  of  these  omnipres- 
ent Some  People?  How  much  of  the  suspicions 
and  distrusts  paralyzing  social  enjoyment,  and  sepa- 
rating man  from  his  fellow,  blasting  all  the  sweet 
flowers  of  friendship  and  love,  is  beyond  estimate. 

Not  only  does  the  fear  of  this  evil  power  hinder 
and  destroy  social  enjoyment,  but  it  makes  moral  cow- 
ards of  humanity,  and  with  a  desperate  strength  holds 
back  and  prevents  advance  steps  that  would  be  other- 
wise taken  for  the  improvement  of  the  race.  Men 
whose  souls  are  too  broad  to  be  confined  in  the  nar- 
row gauge  and  kept  in  the  old  ruts  that  custom  has 
made  for  them,  are  too  often  afraid  to  demand  a  bet- 
ter state  of  things  for  fear  the  gossips  and  the  envious 
will  attribute  sinister  motives,  and  covertly  assail 
their  purposes ;  and  hence  they  cramp  and  dwarf  them- 
selves, and  allow  things  to  remain  rather  than  "  fly 
to  ills  they  know  not  of."  They  fear  the  Invisibles. 
They  would  inaugurate  reforms  and  fight  for  them,^f 


The  L\  visible  Scme  People.  85 

they  only  had  an  open  enemy  to  combat ;  but  their 
courage  is  not  sufficient  for  the  unequal  contest  with 
the  Invisibles. 

And  so  of  men  and  women  of  genius.  In  the 
clearer  light  of  their  higher  and  better  perception 
they  see  the  shallow  shams  and  hollow  falsehoods 
which  duller  minds  have  accepted  as  real  and  true ; 
yet  the  fear  of  the  charge  of  being  wild  and  erratic 
has  paralyzed  their  resolves,  and  compelled  them  to 
remain  for  life  compressed  in  the  narrow  circle  that 
custom  has  made  for  minds  of  smaller  size. 

The  original  thought  of  genius  puts  the  wheels 
of  progress  in  motion,  and  shatters  to  atoms  the  long- 
standing abuses  that*custom  has  placed  in  the  road  to 
human  advancement,  and  with  its  energizing  power 
lifts  humanity  to  a  conception  of  better  things  and 
a  sweeter  enjoyment  of  life.  To  the  minds  endowed 
with  genius  and  courage  to  defy  the  littleness  of  their 
inferiors,  and  who  have  boldly  given  utterance  to  their 
opinions,  we  are  indebted  for  whatever  progress  we 
have  made.  With  the  courage  that  makes  heroes  and 
heroines,  they  have  assailed  old  abuses  and  galvanized 
frauds ;  and,  amid  the  whisperings  of  the  envious  and 
the  hissings  of  the  jealous,  they  have  put  reputation 
and  even  life  in  peril  in  demanding  the  acceptance  of 
the  truth  that  they  in  their  clearer  and  better  vision 
have  discovered. 

While  the  few  of  this  favored  class  have  been 
thus  bold  and  defiant,  the  many  who  are  their  equals 
in  these  rare  gifts,  except  courage,  have  cowered  be- 
fore this  invisible  power,  and  kept  silent.  As  enVy 
and  jealousy  are  the  ruling  spirits  in   this  modern 


86  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

witcberal't,  original  thought  can  no  more  be  tolerated 
than  it  will  permit  the  existence  of  the  legitimate  re- 
sults of  genius — happiness  and  prosperity.  Thus  sur- 
rounding the  human  family  is  this  evil  power,  ready 
to  embitter  every  cup  of  joy,  blast  every  sweet  hope, 
and  hinder  and,  if  possible,  prevent  every  progress- 
ive step. 

In  Persian  mythology  they  have  tAvo  rivaling 
deities — Ormuzd  and  Ahriman.  The  former  created 
the  world  beautiful  and  pure,  and  made  it  the  abode 
of  happiness;  but  Ahriman  came  after  him, and  created 
everything  that  is  evil  in  it.  He  is  charged  with  the 
authorship  of  all  evil  thoughts,  and  with  instigating 
all  wicked  actions.  This  iuviiible  power  is  the 
Ahriman  of  our  civilization;  but,  unlike  the  Persian, 
w'e  have  the  evil  under  control.  As  I  said  at  the 
outset,  it  is  not  stipernatural,  but  it  is  human.  What- 
ever of  misery  and  suifering  flows  from  it  to  the 
human  race  is  self-inflic'ted  injury.  Mortal  man  fur- 
nishes the  ready  tongue  to  utter  a  slander,  and  the 
willing  ear  to  receive  it.  The  gre«d  with  which  the 
many  relish  the  lying  tales  of  the  backbiter,  and  the 
shallow  credulity  with  which  these  tales  are  accepted 
and  acted  upon,  increases  the  army  of  defamers,  in- 
tensifies their  malevolence,  and  adds  to  the  number 
and  magnitude  of  their  falsehoods. 

Allow  me  to  call  your  attention  to  another  curious 
feature  in  the  work  of  defamation.  A  great  many 
people  in  the  world  will  give  little  or  no  countenance 
to  a  story  as  it  passes  from  mouth  to  mouth.  They 
will  not  stop  to  consider  whether  it  be  false  or 
true ;   they  take   no    interest    while    the    slander    is 


The  ly  visible  Some  People.  87 

passed  around  in  that  way ;  they  wisely  conclude  it 
is  false,  and  let  it  pass  unheeded.  But  let  the  same 
scandal  find  its  way  into  public  print,  and  its  whole 
character  in  their  estimation  is  changed ;  they 
strangely  conclude  at  once  that  it  must  be  true  or  it 
never  would  have  been  printed. 

And  so  true  is  this  that  the  statutes  of  this  State 
and  every  other  State — yea,  I  think  the  old  common 
law  of  England — recognize  it  by  making  printed 
words  actionable  for  libel,  that  would  have  sufficient 
force  to  sustain  a  suit  for  slander  when  only  spoken. 
The  type  of  the  printer  thus  gives  it  a  weight  and 
force  with  many  people  that  the  tongue  of  the 
ecandal-monger  is  wholly  unable  to  accomplish. 
The  imps  of  the  Invisibles,  by  thus  securing  an  organ, 
succeed  in  re-enforcing  themselves. 

They  no  longer  quote  the  Some  People,  who  may 

not  be  believed,  but  quote  the  press  to  back  up  their 

fabrications.     Ears   that  were  closed   to   the   scandal 

are  thus  opened,  and  tongues  that  had  been  silent  are 

now    active    in    proclaiming    the     falsehood.     These 

people  are  not  like  Robert  Burns,  who  said : 

"  Some  books  are  lies  fra  end  to  end, 
And  some  great  lies  are  never  penned." 

But  they  seem  to  think  that  a  monstrous  falsehood, 
if  printed  in  a  book,  or  pamphlet,  or  newspaper,  be- 
comes a  serious  truth.  The  newspaper  has  not  only 
this  additional  influence,  but  its  powers  for  evil  are 
immeasurably  increased ;  for  while  the  backbiter  is 
telling  his  vile  stuff  t«  a  small  circle  around  him,  the 
newspaper  is  telling  it  to  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands. 


88  The  Ini'isible  Some  People. 

The  most  stupendous  as  well  as  the  most  infa- 
mous slander  is  the  newspaper  slander;  and  in  some 
of  our  largest  cities  there  are  newspapers  whose  col- 
umns are  devoted  entirely  to  this  miserable  business  of 
defamation  and  slander.  One  has  said  most  truth- 
fully :  "  Year  by  year,  thousands  of  men  are  crushed 
by  the  ink-roller;  and  an  unscrupulous  man  in  the 
editorial  chair  may  smite  as  with  the  wing  of  a  de- 
stroying angel.  What  to  him  is  commercial  integ- 
rity, professional  reputation,  home's  sanctity,  or 
woman's  honor?  It  seems  as  if  he  held  in  his  hand 
a  hose,  while  all  the  harpies  of  sin  are  working  at 
the  pumps;  he  splashes  the  waters  of  death  upon  the 
best  interests  of  society." 

It  is  indeed,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  a  matter  of 
congratulation  that  so  few  of  our  American  news- 
papers are  so  vile ;  but  it  would  be  better  if  there 
were  fewer.  And  we  are  not  entirely  blameless  from 
the  fault ;  for  so  long  as  we  crave  the  wonderful 
and  love  the  sensational,  so  long  will  the  press  con- 
tinue to  feed  us  with  this  moral  swill  ;  and  so  long  as 
we  listen  to  the  tales  of  the  defamers,  the  very  atmos- 
phere will  be  polluted  with  the  stench  of  slander. 

But  I  want  to  be  just  to  the  press.  Indeed,  I 
want  to  be  just  to  everybody.  While  I  have  never 
been  the  editor  of  a  newspaper,  or  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  one,  yet  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  ob- 
serve that  malicious  persons,  knowing  the  power  of 
the  press  over  the  mind  of  man,  and  anxious  to  ob- 
tain revenge  of  an  enemy,  will  write  an  anonymous 
communication,  and  get  it  in  the  paper  if  they  can, 
and  then  let  the  editor  and  his  paper  fight  tKeir  fight 


The  Invisible  Some  People.  89 

while  they  cowardly  remain  in  the  dark.  Now,  how 
many  of  these  anonymous  communications  find  their 
way  to  the  waste-basket  of  the  editor  I  know  not, 
but  I  doubt  not  a  great  many ;  and  the  editor  ought 
to  put  all  the  anonymous  communications — in  fact, 
every  communication,  whether  anonymous  or  not,  that 
reflects  upon  the  character  of  another — in  the  waste- 
basket,  unless  he  knows  absolutely  that  the  statements 
contained  therein  are  true,  and  the  best  interests  of 
society  will  be  promoted  by  publishing  them. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  in  a  Methodist  Conference 
where  a  member  of  the  same,  not  having  the  best 
ability  to  hold  his  tongue,  in  the  excitement  of  de- 
bate said  a  very  unkind,  unchristian,  and  unparlia- 
mentary thing  about  the  brother  who  had  ]>receded 
him  in  the  discussion.  A  half  dozen  members  of  the 
Conference  at  once  rose  to  their  feet  to  rebuke  him. 
He  told  them  to  sit  down,  and  he  would  make  it  right, 
which  they  reluctantly  did.  Not  being  as  prompt  in 
making  the  apology  as  they  thought  proper,  they 
rose  again.  And  he  said  :  "  Hold,  brethren  ;  I  will 
make  this  thing  right,  now."  And  one  of  them 
said,  "  Do  it  at  once."  And  he  put  on  a  very  meek 
and  humble  expression,  and  said:  "Brethren,  if  you 
knew  what  I  have  kept  back,  you  would  not  object 
to  what  I  have  said." 

So  if  we  knew  what  the  press  keeps  back,  we 
might  not  be  inclined  to  criticise  what  they  say. 
But  be  that  as  it  may,  the  slanderer  in  the  press,  in 
politics,  in  society  at  large,  taken  altogether,  casts  the 
dark  shadow  of  barbarism  over  our  Christian  civili- 
zation. 


90  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

1  believe  it  was  the  Hon.  Edmuntl  Burke  who 
said  that  the  spirit  of  civilization  was  composed  of 
two  parts — the  spirit  of  religion  and  the  spirit  of  the 
gentleman.  No  civilization  can  continue  to  retain  its 
claim  as  such,  and  tolerate  slander  and  defamation. 
We  can  not  be  a  nation  of  gentlemen,  much  less 
Christians,  until  the  higher  sense  of  honor  shall 
expel  this  modern  witchcraft  from  American  society. 

^  In  Japan,  it  is  said — with  hoAv   much  truth    I   do 

Dot  knoM',  but  it  is  really  asserted  to  be  true — that 
when  a  Japanese  is  convinced  of  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
slanderer,  he  is  seized  with  such  terrible  shame  and 
remorse  that  he  grasps  the  first  sword  or  dagger  that 
he  can  find,  and  plunges  it  into  his  body  and  dies, 
rather  than  live  with  such  a  stain  on  his  name — the 
stain  of  a  slanderer.  Now,  if  the  same  penalty  fol- 
lowed the  crime  of  backbiting  in  this  country,  whether 
inflicted  voluntarily  or  otherwise,  cremation  would 
have  to  be  adopted  as  an  absolute  necessity;  and  if 
not,  the  business  of  the  undertaker  would  become 
the  leading  mechanical  pursuit  of  the  country,  and 
such  fast  horses  as  Maud  S.  and  Dexter  would  be  re- 
quired for  the  hearse,  and  the  quickest  time  at  a 
funeral  would  be  the  sensation  of  the  hour.  The 
work  of  the  census-taker  for  the  next  decade  would 
be  comparatively  small,  and  one  volume  would  con- 
tain the  report  of  the  commissioner  of  the  census. 

J^  There  is  an  old  story  that  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  centuries  long  since  past,  like  this:  One 
Thomas  the  Rhymer  so  pleased  the  queen  of  the 
fairies  that,  to  manifest  her  regard  for  him  in  the 
highest  degree,  she  gave  hnn  a  tongue  that  could  not 


The  Im'isiBLE  Some  People.  91 

lie.  It  is  said  that  he  protested  against  the  favor  as 
a  very  great  inconvenience  to  hira.  He  could  no 
longer  make  love;  he  could  not  do  anything  at  all 
at  that  business,  and  that  was  a  most  delightful  occu- 
pation. He  could  not  appear  well  at  the  king's  court, 
and  he  could  not  tell  tales  on  his  neighbors. 

Now,  if  the  good  cpieen  of  Elfland  were  to  be 
struck  with  admiration  for  the  whole  American 
people,  and  confer  the  same  favor  on  each  and  all  of 
them,  the  inconvenience  of  involuntary  veracity 
would  cause  large  numbers  to  be  absolutely  dumb. 
And  it  might  not  be  extravagant  to  predict  that  the 
majority  of  us  would  be  afflicted  with  a  halting  and 
stammering  utterance.  Not  that  we  love  a  lie  more 
than  the  truth ;  but  the  gossips  and  scandal-mongers, 
and  our  excessive  credulity  and  love  for  the  wonderful, 
have  so  demoralized  society  that  the  line  of  demarka- 
tion  between  what  is  true  and  what  is  false  has  be- 
come so  indistinct  that  the  truth  has  been  robbed  of 
her  beauty  and  the  false  has  lost  its  ugliness.  We 
do  not  speak  of  slander  and  slanderers  as  they  de- 
serve. In  the  good  old  Book,  Solomon  puts  the  slan- 
derer and  the  murderer  in  the  same  category,  and 
there  is  where  they  properly  belong. 

In   that   wonderful   poem   written   by   Polio  k,  he 

?ays ; 

"  Slander,  the  vilest  whelp  of  sin." 

There  has  been  no  small  amount  of  metaphysical 
and  scientific  nonsense  written  in  discussing  that  vice. 
During  the  late  war,  when  we  were  right  in  the 
midst  of  it,  and  when  our  army  was  the  largest,  a 
distinguished  surgeon  of  the  United  States  army  was 


92        '      The  Ini'isible  Some  People. 

promoted  to  the  high  position  of  surgeon-general  of 
the  army,  and,  having  reached  that  position,  he  doubt- 
less said  to  himself:  "  Now,  I  am  a  surgeon-general 
of  this  great  Republic  and- of  this  the  greatest  army 
of  modern  times;  and  I  must  show  to  the  civilized 
world  that  I  am  worthy  of  the  distinction.  I  must 
twine  some  fresh  laurels  on  my  name  by  making 
some  new  discoveries,  and  add  some  fresh  pages  to 
medical  science;"  which  Avas  a  noble  and  honorable 
ambition.  In  order  to  do  this,  he  concluded  that  he 
would  dissect  a  lie.  He  would  give  a  complete  diag- 
nosis of  this  great  moral  disease,  and  publish  his 
opinion  in  the  Journal  of  Psychological  Medicine  for 
the  benefit  of  science ;  and  he  did  so — at  least  he  says 
he  did — and  he  wrote  an  enormously  long  opinion 
about  a  lie,  too  long  to  repeat  hei-e  now;  but  the 
conclusion  of  the  surgeon-general  was,  if  a  man  tells 
a  lie  on  another,  it  is  because  his  embolus  thrombus  has 
amesic  agstrasia  ! 

When  we  come  to  remember,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, the  vast  number  of  people  who  are  afflicted 
with  the  disease  that  science  is  compelled  to  clothe 
in  such  terrible  words  as  ihese,  and  then  remember 
that  the  disease  is  contagious,  hope  almost  dies  within 
us.  These  doctors  are  too  many  for  us  anyway, 
sometimes.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  size  of  their  bills, 
but  to  the  tremendousness  of  their  language. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  in  Northwestern  Iowa,  in 
January,  lecturing,  when  the  thermometer  was  twenty 
degrees  below  zero,  and  they  had  a  blizzard  every 
few  minutes,  and  there  were  great  snow-drifts  across 
the  railroads;   and   I   was   having  a   fearful  time.     I 


The  Ini'isible  Some  People.  93 

met,  one  day,  at  tlie  depot,  a  leading  Indiana  doctor, 
who  had  gone  West  to  grow  up  with  the  country, 
and  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
I  asked  him  why  he  had  left  that  God-blessed  coun- 
try of  Indiana  to  live  in  this  abominable  climate. 
He  replied  that  he  came  here  for  his  health,  that  he 
had  gained  thirty-four  pounds,  and  that  this  climate 
was  highly  beneficial.  I  said:  ''How  can  it  be  bene- 
ficial. Doctor,  when  the  minute  you  poke  your  nose 
out  here  it  is  frozen?  Where  do  the  benefits  come 
in,  now?"  He  looked  at  me  with  pity,  and,  in  a  sor- 
sowful  tone,  said:  "Why,  really,  I  thought  you  were 
an  intelligent  man  !  Why  do  n't  you  take  a  scientific 
view  of  the  subject?"  I  said:  "Doctor,  give  me  the 
scientific  view,  so  that  I  may  not  expose  my  ignorance 
a^ain."  He  immediatelv  struck  an  attitude,  and 
looked  wiser  than  an  owl,  and  said:  "Don't  you 
know  that  these  blizzards,  this  low  temperature,  these 
deep  snows,  taken  altogether,  destroy  the  bacteria?" 
I  promptly  replied  that  I  had  thought  so  ever  since  I 
had  been  in  Iowa,  for  the  reason  that  I  had  not  seen 
any  anywhere. 

Now,  I  do  not  want  the  doctors  in  this  audience 
to  go  home  under  the  false  impression  that  I  want 
to  ridicule  their  nol)le  j)rofession,  because  no  man  in 
the  world  has  a  higher  opinion  of  the  medical  fra- 
ternity than  your  speaker.  It  is  only  a  few  of  them 
that  I  am  after.  A  doctor  in  Iiltliana,  whom  I  knew 
very  well,  and  who  lived  on  one  of  our  principal 
railroads,  hung  out  his  sign  where  everybody  could 
see  it.  We  will  call  him  John  Jones.  He  had  this 
on  his  sign:    "John  Jones,  Chronic  Physician."     It 


94  The  Invisible  Some  People. 

is  uot  the  regular  medical  profession   I  am  after,  but 
it  is  the  "chronic"  physician  I  am  talking  about. 

But  to  return  to  the  question.  The  need  of  the 
hour  is  such  a  quickening  of  the  moral  sensibilities 
that  we  will  see  slander  and  falsity  in  all  their  real 
hatefuluess  and  hideousness;  that  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  this  disreputable  business  may  be  shunned ; 
and  falsifiers  and  defamers  i)ut  out  of  the  camp,  as  it 
were,  as  the  old  Hebrews  used  to  put  the  leper  out  of 
the  camp. 

Then,  and  not  until  then,  will  the  spirit  of  truth 
find  its  way  into  the  human  heart,  and  bring  with  it 
an  impartial  justice  to  guide  all  our  actions  and 
guard  all  our  words;  bring  with  it  the  sweet  spirit 
of  charity  and  love  that  ever  looketh  at  the  better 
side  of  humanity ;  bring  with  it  the  forgiving  mercy 
that  ever  covers  with  a  mantle  of  love  the  many  frail- 
ties of  humanity. 

All  hail,  then,  the  spirit  of  truth,  that  so  ele- 
vates the  character  of  humanity  as  to  invest  it  with 
the  majesty  of  divinity  and  lend  to  it  the  charm  of 
angelic  beauty ! 


THE  COMMON  MAN. 

THE  human  race  presents  such  an  almost  incom- 
prehensible variety  of  conditions  that,  if  an  at- 
tempt be  made  to  accurately  divide  it  into  classes,  dif- 
culties  intervene  that  seem  impossible  to  overcome. 
If,  in  the  division,  straight  lines  be  insisted  upon, 
they  would  be  as  useless  in  teaching  the  lessons  of 
human  life  as  would  straight  isothermal  lines  in  in- 
dicating climate  and  the  temperature  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Any  division  of  the  human  family  will 
necessarily  be  subject  to  so  many  modifications  and 
exceptions  that  tlie  division  w^ould  be  resolved  back 
into  the  general  mass.  We  can  only  -generalize. 
Let  us,  in  a  general  way,  then,  assume  that  we 
can  find  three  great  divisions — the  upper,  the  middle, 
and  the  lower  class.  There  are  no  distinct  lines  of 
division.  You  can  not  exactly  tell  where  one  class 
ends  and  the  other  begins.  Like  the  tints  of  the 
rainbow,  they  fade  away  into  each  other.  Yet  there 
are  points  where  the  different  colors  are  separate 
and  distinct.  To  these  points  let  us  direct  our 
attention. 

The  favored  few  with  extraordinary  gifts  will  be 
elevated  above  the  middle  class  to  take  a  position 
in  the  higher.  By  the  force  of  innate  strength,  with 
royal  step,  they  march  to  the  front,  and  the  common 


Delivered  at  Chautauqua,  New  York. 

95 


96  The  Common  Man. 

man  grants  them -the  right  of  way.  Great  energy, 
antl  tact  and  skill  in  directing  it,  coupled  with  good 
natural  gifts,  will,  by  their  own  force,  bring  the  for- 
tunate possessor  into  the  same  royal  road,  and  he, 
too,  will  reach  the  front,  and  take  his  place  with  the 
upper  class. 

In  this  money-getting  and  mercenary  age — this 
period  where  greed  and  gain  have  such  a  hold  on  the 
human  mind  and  so  largely  control  human  action — 
the  aristocracy  of  wealth  claim  their  passport  out  of 
the  low  and  middle  classes,  and,  with  nothing  to 
show  but  the  glare  and  glitter  of  diamonds  and  gold, 
are  allowed  a  position  among  the  higher  class  by  a 
hesitating  common  consent.  But  being  only  pur- 
chased, the  claim  is  weak,  and  the  tenure  uncertain. 
Bankruptcy  sends  them  back  again  to  meet  with  a 
cool  reception  from  either  class  from  whence  they 
came. 

It  is  very  manifest  that,  if  our  age  concedes  high 
position  in  society  to  wealth  alone,  unsupported  by 
any  other  claim  ;  if  the  claimant  has  no  individual 
and  personal  merits, — then  let  us  cease  at  once  to 
boast  of  the  culture  and  refinement  of  our  age.  The 
vulgarity  of  the  claim  makes  its  concession  inconsis- 
tent with  the  true  idea  of  a  high  and  noble  man- 
hood. And  even  now  such  claimants  are  but  the 
faded  border  of  the  class,  and  add  nothing  to,  but 
rather  detract  from,  the  bright  hues  of  that  higher 
class  that  hold  their  coveted  place  by  the  unques- 
tioned force  of  real  merit. 

As  I  said  at  the  outset,  there  are  a  few  gifted  per- 
sons who  are  thrown   up   by  the  force  of  their  own 


The  Common  Man.  97 

great  natural  endowments,  and  who  shine  and  glitter 
in  their  upper  sphere,  and  are  the  wonder  and  admi- 
ration of  the  vast  throng  beneath  them.  They  are 
pointed  to  as  the  indubitable  evidence  that  the  age 
which  is  honored  by  them  is  one  of  great  progress  and 
high  development.  But  these  persons  of  wonderful 
and  extraordinary  powers  come  as  infrequently  and 
irregularly  as  the  brilliant  meteor,  and  flash  across 
the  pathway  of  humanity  and  pass  away.  They  leave 
no  light  behind,  and  the  darkness  is  as  intense  as 
before.  The  careful  and  thoughtful  student  of  the 
causes  that  elevate  the  race  and  give  us  a  higher 
type  of  manhood  will  hesitate  to  place  great  credit 
to  the  account  of  those  who  are  conceded  this  daz- 
zling brilliancy.  They  are  so  far  above  the  masses 
that  there  is  no  bond  of  union.  They  are  in  the  sol- 
itude of  their  own  personality  and  originality.  They 
excite  wonder,  but  forbid  emulation.  Ancient  his- 
tory, with  her  great  orators,  painters,  poets,  and  phi- 
losophers, will  corroborate  our  assertion.  The  masses 
of  mankind  were  not  lifted  out  of  their  ignorance 
and  vices  by  them,  but  remained,  century  after  cen- 
tury, in  the  same  degraded  condition.  While  theirs 
was  a  jeweled,  it  was  not  a  helping  hand. 

The  great  minds  of  the  higher  classes,  who  have 
come  up  through  the  ranks  of  the  lower  classes  step 
by  step,  and  have  felt  the  warm  beating  of  sympa- 
thetic hearts,  and  have  practically  known  the  wants, 
needs,  and  aspirations  of  the  common  mau,  and  the 
difficulties  that  he  has  to  contend  with,  are  the  only 
true  and  worthy  leaders  of  human  progress.  Between 
them  and  the  common  man  there  is  a  strong  bond  of 

7 


98  The  Common  Man. 

union.  They  have  left  behind  their  foot-prints,  that 
others  may  follow.  Through  the  wilderness  of  medi- 
ocrity they  have  blazed  their  way  to  the  sunlight  on 
the  mountain-top  of  knowledge  and  culture.  They 
are  the  only  teachers  who  can  effectually  reach  the 
masses,  who  can  impress  themselves  on,  and  whose 
lessons  will  be  heeded  by,  those  beneath  them. 

It  is  too  often  the  misfortune  of  those  having 
great  natural  gifts,  those  who  are  born  great,  to  be 
impatient  and  often  contemptuous  of  those  less  for- 
tunate. Let  us  leave  the  men  of  great  genius  out  of 
the  account  so  far  as  their  personality  is  concerned. 
They  may  make  discoveries  and  give  us  inventions 
that  may  lighten  the  burdens  of  the  race;  they  may 
paint  pictures  that  may  delight  the  eye  and  cultivate 
a  love  of  the  beautiful ;  they  may  write  poems  that 
may  cheer  the  desponding  and  give  hope  to  the  de- 
spairing; but  they  can  not  take  the  common  man  by 
the  hand,  and,  with  love  in  the  heart  and  sympathy 
beaming  from  the  eye,  lead  him  up  to  a  higher  con- 
ception of  his  duty  and  his  destiny.  He  is  isolated 
from  them.  We  look  for  leaders  among  those  who 
have  that  best  of  gifts,  the  determination  to  bring  out 
of  themselves  all  that  is  possible  ;  who  will  study 
honestly  to  know  their  own  power;  who  will  culti- 
vate the  physical,  the  mental,  the  moral,  and  the  spir- 
itual at  the  same  time,  and,  as  a  result,  present  a  per- 
fectly rounded  and  symmetrical  manhood.  Here  may 
be  found  the  elements  that  constitute  true  leadership, 
and  these  are  the  best  of  what  we  call  the  upper 
class. 

What  a    monstrosity   is   a  drunken    poet,  or  the 


The  Common  Man.  99 

combinatioQ  of  a  gifted  painter  aud  a  vulgar  deb- 
auchee !  Of  what  avail  is  the  tongue  of  fire  of  the 
great  orator,  if  that  tongue  is  false  to  his  own  convic- 
tions of  right  and  to  the  sacred  truth?  Of  what 
weight  are  the  honors  of  statesmanship,  if  they  are 
tainted  with  the  slime  of  bribery  and  corruption  ? 
Men  may  wonder  aud  admire  tlie  great  genius,  but 
they  only  love  and  worship  the  true  man.  Lavater 
says:  "The  proportion  of  genius  to  the  vulgar  is  one 
to  a  million ;  but  genius  without  tyranny,  without 
pretension — that  judges  the  weak  with  equity,  the  su- 
perior with  humanity,  and  equals  with  justice — is  like 
one  to  ten  millions." 

If  we  assent  to  the  proposition  that  the  science  of 
the  sciences  is  that  of  knowing  how  to  live ;  if  man 
is  to  be  the  focal  point  for  all  this  modern  light,  then 
we  might  properly  assign  to  the  upper  class,  not  the 
genius  alone,  or  the  rich,  or  those  whom  the  acci- 
dents of  war  or  politics  have  given  prominence,  but 
that  class  of  men  and  women  who,  moved  by  a  proper 
conception  of  the  significance  of  human  existence, 
have  so  studied,  toiled,  and  lived  as  to  have  banished 
some  disease  from  the  human  family,  or  to  have  sup- 
pressed some  vice  that  preyed  on  the  human  race,  or 
to  have  fanned  into  a  flame  the  dying  embers  of  hu- 
man hopes,  aud  awakened  human  souls  to  shake  oft 
all  lethargy  and  to  taste  the  sweets  of  higher  aspira- 
tions and  the  joys  of  nobler  attainments.  These 
are  the  uncrowned  kings  and  queens  of  the  world. 
These  are  the  torch-bearers  of  our  advancing  civ- 
ilization, the  leaders,  whose  brave,  patient,  and  lov- 
ing spirits    have  led  the    race  out  of   the    darkness 


100  The  Common  Man. 

of  ignorance  and  superstition  into  the  clearer  light 
of  a  better  life. 

Man  is  the  noblest  work  of  God,  and  these  phi- 
lanthropists have  called  the  race  away  from  the 
bloody  work  of  robbing  smaller  nations  to  extend 
the  dominion  of  greater  empires,  from  the  erection 
of  useless  pyramids  and  obelisks,  and,  in  more  mod- 
ern times,  from  the  construction  of  heavier  guns  and 
more  destructive  torpedoes.  They  have  given  the 
common  man  a  proper  conception  of  his  own  dignity 
and  worth,  and  have  deepened  and  widened  his  appre- 
ciation of  his  own  manhood.  These  are  the  men  that 
make  the  only  history  that  is  worth  reading.  The 
brevity  of  human  life  makes  their  mission  in  the 
world  one  of  vast  importance.  Civilization  is  but 
the  aggregation  of  individual  eftbrt  and  experience. 

How  much  of  human  thought  is  buried  in  the 
grave,  knowing  no  resurrection,  before  it  has  budded, 
blossomed,  or  ripened !  How  many  problems  are 
wrought  in  the  recesses  of  modest  and  thoughtful 
minds,  that  are  never  brought  forth  and  applied  to 
human  needs,  but  are  lost  to  the  world  by  the  early 
departure  of  the  thoughtful  spirit  to  another  sphere 
of  activity  !  I  do  not  mean  schemes  which,  by  their 
magnitude,  would  attract  the  attention  of  the  world 
and  raise  the  proposer  high  above  the  common  man, 
but  rather  effectual  remedies  for  the  smaller  ills  of 
every-day  life,  which  are  constantly  making  inroads 
on  our  happiness.  How  much  human,  life  is  embit- 
tered, and  consequently  shortened,  by  both  social 
and  physical  evils  that  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to 
exist ! 


The  Common  Man.  101 

For  all  these,  I  doubt  not,  many  a  complete  rem- 
edy has  been  thought  out,  but  never  applied.  The 
great  and  practical  leader  is  he  who  can  call  these 
modest  men  to  the  front,  and  get  their  best  thoughts 
and  reflections  before  the  public,  and  put  in  motion 
such  waves  of  agitation  as  will  stir  the  stagnant  water 
of  society,  and  thus  cleanse,  purify,  and  better  our 
social  and  physical  life. 

Let  not  the  reverence  for  a  precedent,  or  the  fear 
of  being  denounced  as  an  agitator,  or  the  dread  of 
being  regarded  as  a  visionary,  forever  keep  the  com- 
mon man  in  the  ruts  of  old  customs  and  habits. 
Those  are  but  shields  to  guard  and  perpetuate  evils 
that  poison  his  life  and  rob  him  of  the  comfort  and 
peace  of  living.  Why  should  the  best  thoughts  of  men 
be  given  in  a  whisper  under  the  cover  and  seal  of  conii- 
dence?  Why,  in  this  land  of  free  speech  and  free 
press,  should  any  sort  of  despotism  keep  silent  the 
philanthropist  and  the  patriot  ?  Why  is  not  the  com- 
moi#  man  emboldened  to  speak  out,  and  earnestly 
vindicate  the  reforms  that  the  present  disordered 
state  of  things  have  suggested  to  his  thoughtful  mind 
and  his  loving  heart?  The  need  of  the  hour,  then,  is 
such  leadership  as  will  inspire  the  common  man  with 
courage  to  assert  himself,  and  take  the  position  that  it 
is  better  to  be  regarded  as  a  crank  than  a  coward. 

Rare  gifts  are  required  for  the  accomplishment  of 
these  grand  results.  Such  a  leader  must  love  his  fel- 
low-men, and  his  aifection  must  be  so  pronounced,  yet 
at  the  same  time  so  free  from  ostentation,  so  unselfish 
and  self-sacrificing,  that  it  will  challenge  their  entire 
confidence.     He   must   know  the   common    man,  and 


102  The  Common  Man. 

fully  understand  his  surroundings,  and  place  a  correct 
estimate  on  his  capabilities.  He  must  be  persevering 
and  patient, — as  Longfellow  has  it,  "  Learn  to  labor 
and  to  wait." 

Many  a  reform  has  been  lost  to  the  world,  and 
many  a  truth  has  been  rejected,  because  it  was  pre- 
sented too  soon.  The  experience  of  mankind  demou- 
strates  the  fact  that  old  and  pernicious  customs  can 
be  more  effectually  broken  np  and  destroyed  by  the 
slow  process  of  the  siege  rather  than  by  the  impet- 
uous charge.  Hnman  progress  has  been  greatly 
hindered  and  retarded  by  the  impatience  of  the  re- 
former. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  only  test  that  our  civiliza- 
tion is  advancing  is,  that  there  is  a  constant  better- 
ment of  the  condition  of  the  common  man,  then  [ 
assume  that  the  position  is  well  taken  that  the  upper 
class  are  those  who,  in  every  department  of  labor  and 
field  of  action,  are  accomplishing  that  work.  They 
stand  pre-eminently  ahead  and  above  all  others. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  common  man.  Let 
us  look  at  the  great  middle  class  of  mankind. 
Here  is  the  grand  basis  upon  which  everything 
rests.  Here,  too,  we  find  the  true  gauge  of  the 
intelligence,  education,  and  religion  of  the  age.  Here 
we  find  the  elements  of  strength  and  power  of  the 
government,  and  here  are  the  sources  from  which 
come  justice  in  our  laws  and  equity  in  their  admin- 
istration. Here  are  the  great  numerical  forces  that 
at  the  ballot-box  perpetuate  wrong  or  overthrow  it. 
To  this  class  the  politician  makes  his  most  deferential 
bow,  and  in  his  presence  the  statesman,  with  uncov- 


The  Common  Man.  103 

erc'd  head,  ackuowledges  the  power  of  a  great  con- 
serving force.  Here  may  be  found  the  controlling 
power  that  puts  on  the  brakes  when  fanaticism  runs 
the  train,  or  fires  up  and  adds  more  steam  when  the 
conservative  fails  to  make  time.  This  great  mass  is 
too  heavy  to  be  moved  by  the  waves  of  j)remature 
agitation  ;  and  when  on  its  own  choice  it  is  stirred,  it 
is  too  weighty  to  be  quieted  by  weak  and  timid  con- 
servatism. 

The  common  man  demands  fair  play  and  equal 
justice;  and  so  far  as  he  comprehends  his  duties  as  a 
citizen  and  his  relation  to  his  government,  he  is  a 
patriot.  On  his  intelligence  and  virtue  depend  the 
safety  of  the  State  and  the  permanence  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  weal  or  woe  of  society  rests  with  him. 
The  ragged  and  filthy  battalions  of  ignorance  and 
vice  from  the  gutter  and  the  slums  may  make  their 
assault  on  law  and  order,  may  incite  riot  and  commo- 
tion ;  but  if  the  common  man  is  well  equipped  for 
his  responsible  position,  the  established  order  of 
aifairs  will  not  be  seriously  disturbed.  Holding  the 
middle  ground  between  the  highest  culture  and  the 
densest  ignorance,  his  position  is  one  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  to  qualify  him  to  meet  his  require- 
ments should  be  the  work  of  the  patriot  and  the  phi- 
lanthropist. Having  an  interest  in  the  well-being  of 
society,  with  a  strong  and  vigorous  self-respect,  there 
is  great  hope  of  developing  him.  His  environments 
are  all  favorable  and  helpful.  He  knows  that  his 
labor  fills  the  granaries  and  store-houses  of  the  world, 
or  in  the  line  of  his  profession  he  is  meeting  the 
wants   and   demands   of  his   societv.     On  his  intelli- 


104  The  Common  Man. 

gence  and  virtue  depend  the  peace  of  society,  the 
perpetuity  of  law  aud  order,  aud  the  permanence  of 
the  government. 

It  is  a  mistaken  view  of  the  philanthropist  that 
the  only  danger  to  the  State  and  society  is  to  be 
found  in  the  ignorance  and  vice  of  the  lowest  class ; 
aud  a  constant  effort  is  being  made  to  elevate  and 
purify  that  element.  The  experience  of  the  past  will 
justify  the  truth  of  the  assertion  that  the  success  in 
that  direction  is  not  commensurate  with  the  effort. 

In  an  advancing  army,  in  the  center  of  the  col- 
umn, each  and  every  soldier  must  be  in  his  proper 
place,  and  hold  it.  If  the  enemy  can  strike  a  weak 
place  in  the  center,  and  break  it,  the  capture  of  the 
right  and  left  wing  will  not  be  difficult.  This  great 
middle  class  is  the  center  of  the  column.  Our  hope 
for  the  future  rests  right  there. 

If  the  upper  class  are  those  who  plan  wisest  for 
the  betterment  of  the  condition  of  humanity,  and  the 
middle  class  are  the  main  stay  and  support  of  all  that 
goes  to  make  up  our  civilization,  what,  then,  are  the 
difficulties  that  the  cultivated  philanthropist  has  to 
contend  with  in  eliminating  the  evils  that  effectually 
weaken  the  power  and  the  spirit  of  the  common  man  ? 
This  opens  too  wide  a  field  for  this  brief  considera- 
tion. First  of  all  and  above  all,  he  should  have  a 
sound  mind  in  a  healthy  body;  and  he  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  the  former  unless  he  possess  the  lat- 
ter; the  intricate  and  sympathetic  relations  existing 
between  the  two  seem  to  settle  that  question. 

Why  is  the  red  rose  of  perfect  health  so  seldom 
seen  on  the  human  face,  or  the  fire  of  a  clear  and  vig- 


The  Common  Man.  105 

orous  intellect  so  seldom  flashing  from  the  eye? 
Why  are  the  sweet  waters  of  human  happiness  so 
often  poisoned  with  the  gall  and  bitterness  of  disease? 
AYhy  are  human  hopes  blasted,  and  the  energies  of 
man  paralyzed  by  so  many  ills  that  beset  him  on  every 
side  ?  Is  it  not  that  the  common  man  has  neglected 
the  first  and  most  important  lesson  in  ethics — that  of 
knowing  how  to  live?  He  may  grasp  the  many 
problems  in  mathematics,  and  may  study  and  compre- 
hend his  constitutional  rights,  and  have  well-defined 
views  on  the  many  platforms  and  creeds  that  are  pre- 
sented for  his  consideration;  yet  he  does  not  know  the 
component  elements  of  the  air  that  he  breathes  or  the 
water  that  he  drinks.  He  does  not  know  how  much, 
or  how  often,  or  what  he  ought  to  eat  to  preserve  his 
health.  The  birds  in  the  forest  caroling  forth  the 
evidence  of  perfect  health,  the  gambols  of  the  wild 
deer  on  the  prairies,  and  even  the  buzzing  of  count- 
less insects  all  about  us,  teach  us  the  humiliating 
lesson  that  their  active  instinct  gives  them  better  san- 
itary protection  than  all  our  boasted  reason  and  edu- 
cation. 

The  defect  is  not  in  our  reason,  but  in  our  culture. 
The  upper  class  should,  by  both  precept  and  example, 
show  the  common  man  how  to  prevent  disease.  The 
pulpit  should  rebuke  the  superstition  that  is  an  insult 
to  a  kind  and  loving  Father,  that  all  our  ills  are  the 
wise  doings  of  an  inscrutable  providence  sent  as  the 
chastisement  of  an  All-Father  who  loves  us.  The 
public  schools  should  give  in  their  text-books  the 
fullest  information,  and  sanitation  should  be  the  fore- 
most and  principal  study  in  all  our  schools,  colleges, 


106  The  Common  Man. 

and  universities.  There  is  no  scarcity  of  knowledge 
on  the  subject  of  hygiene,  hut  there  has  been  no  sys- 
tematic or  active  diffusion  of  the  same  among  com- 
mon people.  The  overwhelming  importance  of  the 
subject  has  never  been  appreciated.  It  may  be  that 
there  has  been  a  lack  of  presenting  the  subject  in  an 
attractive  and  impressive  manner.  If  that  be  so, 
then  a  splendid  opportunity  is  presented  for  a  genu- 
ine reformer  to  obviate  the  difficulty.  Impure  at- 
mosphere, poisoned  water,  and  indigestible  food, 
weakening  the  energy  of  the  common  man,  and  im- 
pairing his  physical  force,  the  demand  for  stimu- 
lants to  repair  the  damage  opens  the  door  for  intox- 
icants ;  and  intemperance,  Avith  its  train  of  vice, 
pauperism,  and  crime,  depletes  the  ranks  of  the 
middle  class,  and  assists  to  fill  up  and  greatly  adds 
to  the  Avretchedness  of  the  lowest  class.  Hope  is 
the  sheet-anchor  to  the  human  soul.  Disease  un- 
loosens its  moorings,  and  the  man  often  floats  out  on 
the  troubled  sea  of  despair  to  be  broken  and  wrecked 
on  its  treacherous  reefs.  Health  and  hope  are  mu- 
tual friends  and  helpers;  so  are  disease  and  despair. 
Is  it  not  true,  therefore,  that  when  you  preserve  the 
physical  health  of  mankind  you  not  only  fortify  and 
make  strong  his  manhood,  but,  at  the  same  time,  pro- 
tect his  morals? 

And  the  same  is  true  in  regard  to  his  intellectual 
development.  If,  after  the  day's  work  is  done,  he 
finds  himself  in  his  own  home  castle,  however  hum- 
ble, with  the  cares  of  business  shut  out,  and  is  tor- 
mented with  neuralgia  or  racked  with  rheumatism, 
lie  has  no  care   to   read   the    magazine  or  even  to  in- 


The  Common  Man.  107 

vestigate  the  causes  that  produce  the  pains  that  an- 
noy him.  He  courts  only  sleep,  that  the  miseries  of 
his  existence  may  be  drowned  in  the  sea  of  uncon- 
sciousness. This  soon  becomes  the  fixed  habit  of 
the  man ;  and  when  the  disease  that  baffled  the  skill 
of  the  physician  has  been  removed  by  kind  nature 
herself,  the  man's  mind  has  become  so  rusted  by 
long  disuse  that  all  craving  for  information  beyond 
the  narrow  limit  of  supplying  his  daily  wants  and  ac- 
cumulating property  has  died  out,  and  the  man  ceases 
to  be  any  longer  a  useful  member  of  society.  He 
only  lives  to  prolong  his  insignificant  existence,  and 
to  provide  for  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be 
dependent  upon  him.  Caring  nothing  for  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  that  govern  his  physical,  mental,  or 
spiritual  life,  he  provides  no  library  for  his  family,  so 
that  his  children  grow  up  to  manhood  and  woman- 
hood only  to  repeat  the  life  and  bad  example  of  the 
parent. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  this  state  of  things  could 
not  be  entirely  corrected  by  improving  the  physical 
health  of  mankind,  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  it 
would  go  a  long  way  in  that  direction.  AVhile  dis- 
ease paralyzes  the  physical  strength  and  endurance, 
it  is  equally,  and  perhaps  in  a  much  greater  degree, 
the  cause  of  mental  weakness  and  inertia.  Civiliza- 
tion will  continue  to  move  at  its  present  slow  rate, 
and  progress  with  its  accustomed  halting  step,  until 
this  o-reat  burden  shall  be  lifted  from  humanitv. 

That  much  has  been  done  to  lighten  the  load  in 
the  last  century  can  not  be  denied.  The  common  man 
of  this  age  lives  longer,  and  is  happier,  and  has  better 


108  The  Common  Man. 

health  all  hi.s  life,  than  the  man  of  like  condition  a 
hundred  years  ago.  He  is  a  braver  soldier  in  time 
of  war,  and  a  better  and  more  intelligent  citizen  in 
time  of  peace.  Having  accomplished  this  much,  and 
knowing  from  our  daily  cxjierience  that  our  physical 
organism  treats  disease  as  an  intruder,  and  will,  if 
not  crippled  by  our  ignorance,  successfully  resist 
its  attack  on  our  health  and  happiness,  is  it,  then, 
too  much  to  assume  that  a  higher  degree  of  intelli- 
gence may  yet  be  able  to  present  the  common 
man  free  from  disease,  perfect  in  health  and  vigor? 
It  is  manifest  that  his  Creator  intended  that  it 
should  be  so. 

It  may  seem  wdtty  to  the  unthinking  when  the 
polished  skeptic  asserts  that  ''  God  ought  to  have 
made  health  contagious,  and  not  disease."  But  science 
and  revelation  both  teach  that  health  is  from  the 
Giver  of  all  good,  and  disease  is  the  result  of  our 
criminal  indifference  to  the  laws  of  our  physical 
beino;.  It  seems  that  it  ought  not  to  be  a  difficult 
undertaking  to  arouse  the  common  man  to  a  proper 
conception  of  the  importance  of  his  own  health  and 
hap})iness  and  a  correct  estimate  of  the  value  and 
significance  of  his  own  existence.  That  the  common 
man  has  no  greater  concern  in  these  regards,  and  has 
so  imperfect  a  view  of  his  own  needs,  powers,  and 
capabilities,  would  indicate  that  our  civilization  is 
far  below  the  line  where  our  boasting  has  placed  it. 

Whatever  of  excellency  our  age  may  possess  over 
that  of  any  past  age  is  exactly  proportioned  to  the 
higher  estimate  the  individual  man  of  to-day  may  give 
to  himself,  and  his  desire  to  attain  to  the  full  all  the 


The  Common  Man.  109 

possibilities  of  his  mission.  Is  not  this  often  all  the 
line  of  deniarkation  between  the  barbarian  and  the 
civilized  man?  The  former  knows  nothing  of  him- 
self, and  cares  for  nothing  beyond  keeping  himself 
alive,  while  the  latter,  prompted  by  self-love,  seeks 
first  of  all  to  know  himself,  that  he  may  not  only 
elevate  his  manhood  and  bring  out  of  himself  all 
that  is  in  him,  but  at  the  same  time  be  a  helper  and 
an  elevating  force  to  all  around  him. 

If  such  sanitary  measures  can  be  devised  and  put 
in  practical  operation  as  will  relieve  the  great  middle 
class  of  so  much  physical  suffering,  and  thus  put  new 
life  and  strength  into  the  body  of  the  common  man, 
it  will  make  the  brightest  page  in  the  history  of  human 
progress  and  development.  The  pulpit,  the  press,  the 
platform,  and  every  other  avenue  communicating 
information  to  the  people,  should  be  utilized  to 
arouse  the  public  mind  to  the  importance  of  this 
most  needed  reform.  Having  relieved  the  common 
man  from  the  enervating  effects  of  disease,  and  [put 
strength  into  his  physical  powers,  and  driven  out 
grim  despair  from  his  heart  and  filled  it  with  cheerful 
hope,  and  given  him  a  healthy  and  active  brain,  he  is 
not  only  ready  to  work,  but  h(!  is  now  prepared  to 
think  for  himself  He  is  now  ready  to  investigate 
and  challenge  the  truth  of  the  opinions  that  others 
have  made  for  him — dogmas  that  he  has  inherited. 

Fronde  said  :  ''  In  the  ordinary  branches  of  human 
knowledge  or  inquiry,  the  judicious  question  of  re- 
ceived opinions  has  been  regarded  as  the  sign  of  scien- 
tific vitality,  the  principle  of  scientific  advancement, 
the    very    source  and    root  of  healthy   progress   and 


110  The  Common  Man. 

growth."  This  is  unquestionably  true.  The  "judicious 
questioning"  spirit  in  social  life,  in  politics,  and  re- 
ligion ought  to  be  aroused.  Let  no  old  opinions  or 
practices  be  rejected  because  of  their  antiquity,  and 
no  new  ones  be  accepted  because  of  their  novelty. 
Let  them  stand  or  fall  after  fair  and  impartial  investi- 
gation. Great  difficulties  have  to  be  overcome  to 
accomplish  this.  The  common  man  has  inherited 
opinions  and  habits,  and  he  becomes  associated  with 
others  in  like  condition,  and  parties  are  formed,  and 
a  name  is  given  the  organization.  He  glories  in  the 
name,  and  marches  proudly  under  its  banner.  Any 
assault  on  his  party  he  takes  as  an  attack  on  himself. 
For  him  to  question  the  correctness  of  his  party's 
platform  or  creed  seems  like  treason  to  his  organiza- 
tion and  aid  to  the  opposition.  He  so  fears  the  charge 
of  being  a  deserter,  and  the  persecution  of  those  with 
whom  he  has  acted,  that,  right  or  wrong,  he  stands 
with  the  organization.  The  reverence  for  inherited 
opinions,  and  the  despotism  of  party,  is  the  strongest 
fortress  for  error.  The  great  middle  class,  immersed 
in  the  cares  of  business,  and  often  Mcaried  with  the 
toils  and  labors  of  life,  having  less  time  and  inclina- 
tion for  thought  and  reflection,  find  the  opinion  of  the 
forefathers  and  the  ready-made  platform  of  the  party 
a  convenient  substitute.  Mental  indolence  pleads  suc- 
cessfully for  their  acceptance  and  adoption. 

Who  can  liberate  the  common  man?  Who  has 
the  tact  and  skill  to  so  hold  up  the  truth  along-side  of 
the  ancient  creed  or  the  party  platform  as  to  charm 
him  away  from  his  old  idols,  and  cause  him  to  accept 
the  new?     Are  the  educational  forces  we  have  now  so 


The  Common  Man.  Ill 

well  equipped  that,  with  skillful  leadership,  they  will 
be  sufficient  for  these  things?  Can  old  party  lines  be 
broken,  and  old  organizations  be  disbanded,  and  new 
ones  be  formed  on  the  high  plane  of  solely  promoting 
the  public  welfare  ?  Can  partisanship  be  compelled 
to  take  its  selfish  grip  from  the  throat  of  patriotism, 
and  bigotry  lift  its  iron  heel  from  the  neck  of  Chris- 
tianity? When  will  the  roar,  riot,  and  wrangle  of 
dogmatic  disputation  be  silenced,  that  the  sweet  and 
loving  voice  of  the  great  Teacher  may  be  heard,  say- 
ing, "  Blessed  are  the  merciful ;  blessed  are  the  pure 
in  heart;  blessed  are  the  peace-makers?" — so  He  may 
be  heard  proclaiming  the  Golden  Rule,  containing  the 
whole  gospel  of  justice,  the  whole  gospel  of  mercy, 
the  whole  gospel  of  love  ? — a  gospel  that  has  lovingly 
taken  the  dagger  of  revenge  from  the  hand  of  hate, 
and  has  so  changed  and  reformed  the  jurisprudence 
of  all  civilized  lands  that  the  cruel  and  pitiless  "letter 
of  the  law  "  must  be  construed  and  administered  by 
the  sweet  and  gentle  spirit  of  equity. 

"  Whatsoever  ye  Avould  that  men  shoukl  do  unto 
you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them,"  has  come  ringing 
down  the  ages,  and  has  changed  the  practices  and 
purposes  of  the  human  race.  But  for  the  rigid  ad- 
herence to  old  dogmas — conceived,  many  of  them, 
in  times  of  darkness,  superstition,  and  persecution, 
and  coming  down  from  generation  to  generation, 
fastening  themselves  on  men's  faith  as  silently  and 
unconsciously  as  barnacles  to  a  vessel, — but  for  these 
obstructions,  this  elevating  force  would  have  been  in- 
comparably greater.  Let  the  dust  and  debris  of  con- 
flicting dogmas    and    speculative  opinions  b*»  swept 


112  The  Common  Man. 

away,  and  let  the  Sermon  ou  the  Mount,  with  its 
grand  lessons  relating  entirely  to  human  conduct, 
stand  out  clearly  as  the  guide  to  a  nobler  manhood. 
It  needs  no  classical  scholar  to  interpret  it.  Here  is 
no  discussion  of  doctrines,  no  ground  for  sectarian 
wrangling.  The  common  man  can  read  and  under- 
stand it.  It  is  the  utterance  of  One  who  wanted  man 
to  measure  up  to  the  full  stature  of  a  true  manhood 
by  right  living — One  who  was  himself  the  very  in- 
carnation of  love,  mercy,  justice,  and  truth.   Pope  said: 

"  For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight ; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

The  great  middle  class  furnishes  the  battle-field 
where  truth  and  error  are  constantly  contending.  It 
is  here  where  broad  patriotism  has  to  battle  with  nar- 
row partisanship,  where  pure  Christianity  has  its  con- 
test with  dogmatic  theology ;  and  the  victories  here 
furnish  the  true  criteria  of  progress,  and  give  cast 
and  color  to  the  civilization  of  the  age.  If  it  can  be 
clearly  seen  that  the  common  man  is  shaking  off  the 
shackles  that  have  bound  him,  and  is  coming  to  be  a 
self-reliant  thinker,  then  there  is  hope  for  a  sure  vic- 
tory fur  the  truth. 

Carlyle  says:  "Truly  a  thinking  man  is  the 
worst  enemy  the  prince  of  darkness  can  have ;  every 
time  such  an  one  announces  himself,  I  doubt  not,  there 
runs  a  shudder  through  the  nether  empire,  and  new 
emissaries  are  trained  with  new  tactics  to,  if  possible, 
entrap  him,  and  hoodwink  him,  and  handcuff  him." 
Will  not  the  cultivation  of  closer  social  relations 
produce  more  thinkers?  Is  it  not  true  that  it  is  the 
talks  of  the   common  man   on  the  streets  and  in  the 


The  Common  Man.  113 

railway-car  going  to  and  from  business — the  swap- 
ping of  opinions  at  the  exchange,  and  on  the  door- 
step, and  over  the  back-yard  fence — that  shake  the 
workl  ? 

Man's  social  life  is  the  effective  medium  through 
which  all  the  other  elevating  forces  act.  Science  may 
come  with  some  new  truth  by  the  light  of  which 
u  new  law  is  revealed  to  guide  men  upward.  Her 
better  implements  and  improved  machinery  lighten 
the  burden  of  man's  life,  and  better  supply  his  needs. 
Religion  stirs  the  divinity  w^ithin  him,  purifies  his 
purposes,  and  lifts  him  above  the  material  into  the 
realm  of  the  spiritual.  Giving  each  a  fair  share  of 
credit,  they  would  accomplish  much  less  if  they  were 
not  all  re-enforced  by  the  social  life  of  man. 

Guizot,  the  great  French  author  and  statesman, 
earnestly  assumes  that  France  is  marching  at  the  head 
of  European  civilization,  and  declares  that  she  has  at- 
tained that  proud  position  by  the  social  life  of  her 
people.  Is  it  too  much  to  claim  that  this  same  social 
force  has  builded,  as  w^e  all  hope,  a  Republic  good 
and  strong  on  the  ruins  of  monarchy?  It  has  ever 
been  the  prime  object  of  despotism  to  watch  the  social 
man,  to  put  him  under  surveillance,  and  to  shadow 
him  night  and  day  lest  he  might  too  freely  speak  of 
the  wrongs  that  had  been  inflicted  on  him,  or  of  the 
rights  of  which  he  had  been  robbed. 

He  will  indeed  be  a  true  reformer  and  benefactor 
who  can  devise  such  social  schemes  as  will  often  call 
men  away  from  the  hot  pursuit  of  riches,  or  the  rest- 
less ambition  to  attain  the  w^orld's  honors,  and  lift 
our  social  life  out  of  the  gluttony  and  wine-drinking 


114  The  Common  Man. 

that  has  so  demoralized  it,  up  to  the  higher  plane  of  a 
"  feast  of  reason  and  a  flow  of  soul." 

It  is  idle  to  persuade  a  man  to  love  his  God  or 
his  country,  or  to  take  an  interest  in  the  public  wel- 
fare, unless  he  loves  his  fellow-men.  The  reforms 
most  needed  are  those  that  will  give  us  more  health 
and  less  disease ;  that  will  liberate  the  human  mind 
from  the  bolts  and  bars  of  party  and  sect,  and  open 
the  doors  for  the  reception  of  God's  own  truth ;  that 
will  give  us  a  higher  order  of  social  life,  and  more  of 
it ;  that  will  substitute  for  the  craving  desire  for 
riches  a  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness. 
But  just  in  proportion  as  these  reforms  are  brought 
forward  do  we,  in  the  same  degree,  promote  the  in- 
tellectual development  of  the  race. 

AVe  sometimes  sing  it  from  our  hymn-books  and 
hear  it  from  the  pulpit  that  this  world  is  a  vale  of 
tears  and  sorrow ;  that  this  earthly  life  is  to  be  en- 
dured and  not  enjoyed;  that  we  are  to  take  our  eyes 
off  the  things  of  this  world,  and,  with  the  help  of 
faith,  try  to  see  something  better  beyond  this  pro- 
bationary state ;  that  salvation  means  escaping  future 
punishment  when  life's  fitful  dream  is  past.  It  seems 
to  me  that  this  sort  of  teaching  is  not  the  best  to 
prepare  us  for  that  higher  order  of  being.  Why 
'not  teach  and  preach  more  about  a  present  salvation  ; 
a  salvation  from  disease ;  a  salvation  from  old  hoary- 
headed  errors  that  have  too  long  ruled  and  controlled 
the  human  race  ;  a  salvation  from  coveteousness  and 
avarice;  a  salvation  from  superstition,  ignorance,  and 
selfishness,  and,  above  all,  a  salvation  from  a  pitiless 
indifference  to  the  pauperism,  vice,  and  crime  of  the 


The  Common  Man.  115 

lower  class  that  are  constantly  with  us  and  near  us, 
and  constitute  so  large  an  element  for  evil  in  the 
State  and  in  society;  a  salvation  that  will  recognize 
the  fact  that  these  unfortunate  ones  have  temporal 
and  social  wants  as  well  as  spiritual  needs ;  a  salva- 
tion that  will  cause  us  to  enter  into  the  regeneration 
of  our  next-door  neighbor  with  at  least  as  much  en- 
thusiasm as  we  take  in  the  conversion  of  a  heathen 
in  the  burning  sands  of  Africa  or  the  jungles  of 
India  ? 

Let  us  now  briefly  consider  the  lowest  class,  com- 
posed, it  would  seem  very  largely,  of  those  who  have 
no  aim  or  purpose  in  life — who  appear  unconscious 
that  man  is  something  more  than  an  animal — the  worst 
and  lowest  of  them  (and  this  is  no  small  proportion) 
crawling  from  birth  to  death  through  the  cohesive 
slime  of  their  own  vices  and  ignorance.  Many  of 
them  not  only  inherit  this  low  conception  of  life,  but 
their  environments  are  such  that  they  never  come  in 
close  contact  with  anything  better.  Many  are  driven 
into  the  same  degraded  condition  by  the  force  of 
their  own  vicious  habits,  and  take  rank  with  the 
worst. 

If  this  age  be,  as  some  claim,  the  great  epoch  of 
integration  of  all  the  great  educational  and  reform- 
atory forces,  is  it  not  as  certainly  true  that  ignorance 
and  vice  are  massing  and  mobilizing  their  wretched 
battalions  for  resistance?  Do  we  not  find  in  our 
cities  great  numbers  of  our  lowest  classes  crowded 
together  in  the  same  locality,  so  compactly  that  there 
seems  to  be  but  little  chance  to  break  the  lines  and 
establish  in   their  midst  any  purifying  and   disiute- 


116  The  Common  Man. 

grating  forces?  It  has  often  been  attempted;  but 
generally  the  brave  spirits  who  entered  the  lines 
were  driven  back  by  the  pestilential  surroundings. 
This  bad  element  holding  the  balance  of  power,  it 
has  become  a  question  of  great  and  serious  concern 
with  philanthropists  and  patriots  as  to  how  they  may 
make  a  success  of  municipal  government  so  as  to 
protect  rights  and  maintain  law  and  order. 

Having  no  interest  in  the  property  of  the  city, 
and  with  but  little  or  no  conception  of  the  duties 
and  obligations  of  citizenship,  these  lower  classes  be- 
come the  willing  ally  of  the  lawless,  who  seek  to 
place  the  person  and  property  of  all  law-abiding  citi- 
zens under  the  control  of  the  angry  and  unreasoning 
mob.  With  the  ballot  in  their  hands,  they  are  a 
standing  and  perpetual  temptation  to  the  politician 
to  connive  at  their  lawlessness.  The  statesman  is 
crowded  out  to  make  a  place  for  the  demagogue. 
But  it  is  not  the  presence  of  the  demagogue,  with 
his  foul  breath  and  lying  tongue,  that  needs  create 
alarm,  but  the  ignorance  and  vice  that  make  his 
political  existence  a  possibility.  It  is  the  domination 
of  party  spirit  in  the  middle  class,  superadded  to  the 
purchased  ballots  of  the  lowest  class,  that  enables  the 
brazen  faces  of  so  many  of  the  pestilent  rank  to  ap- 
pear in  the  halls  of  legislation.  It  is  this  collected 
mass  of  ignorance,  out  of  reach  of  all  good  influ- 
ences, re-enforcing  itself  from  its  own  accumulating 
wickedness,  that  is  the  standing  menace  to  the  peace 
of  society  and  the  perpetuity  of  good  government. 

The  power  that  holds  this  mass  of  danger  and 
evil  together,  and  prevents  either  its  purification  or 


The  Common  Man.  117 

disintegration,  is  the  whisky-saloon.  Not  uufre- 
quently,  with  its  house  of  ill-repute  and  gambling- 
den  attachment  added,  it  becomes  the  head  devil  in 
tlie  work  of  crime.  Consuming  the  wages  of  those 
who  do  labor,  it  robs  them  not  only  of  the  means  of 
improvement,  but  drunkenness  comes  and  takes  away 
all  hope  or  inclination  for  a  better  life,  and  cuts  off 
all  means  of  escape  from  the  infected  district.  The 
upper  and  middle  classes  of  men,  on  the  border  of 
and  surrounding  these  districts,  can  accomplish  some- 
thing by  urging  those  of  the  lower  class  nearerst  them 
to  turn  their  faces  outward  tow^ard  the  homes  of 
plenty  and  culture,  and,  with  their  children,  often 
come  out  from  the  atmosphere  laden  with  profanity 
and  obscenity,  and  breathe  the  purer  air  of  a  better 
life.  No  doubt  many  of  these  unfortunate  ones  have 
thus  been  elevated  and  transferred  to  the  middle 
class. 

We  have  taken  too  narrow  a  view  of  the  real 
value  and  benefit  of  the  Homestead  Law,  giving  the 
public  lands  to  the  actual  settlers  without  money  or 
price.  In  recounting  its  merits  we  have  omitted  the 
most  important  feature  of  the  many  good  results. 

When  we  have  pointed  with  pride  to  the  States  it 
has  added  to  our  Union,  to  the  new  stars  it  has  placed 
in  our  national  banner,  and  shown  that  it  has  given 
us  civilization  where  there  was  barbarism,  and  made 
the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  bring  forth  the 
rich  and  abundant  harvest,  we  thought  we  had  named 
all  of  its  substantial  blessings.  Nay;  not  so.  That 
is  not  a  tithe  of  its  real  value.  It  has  placed  honest 
toil  in  hands  that  would  have  been  idle,  and  given 


118  The  Common  Man. 

all  the  rewards  of  labor  to  the  laborer.  It  has  turned 
the  tide  of  immigrants  away  from  our  overcrowded 
cities  toward  the  open  plains.  It  has  made  a  Avay  of 
escape  for  the  husband  and  Avife  from  the  smoke, 
the  grime  and  crime  of  the  densely  populated  places, 
to  plant  their  home  under  the  clear  sky,  on  the 
mountain  or  the  hill-side,  or  in  the  valley — to  rear  the 
family  amid  the  perfume  of  flowers  and  the  songs 
of  birds  in  the  forest,  near  where  the  pure  water  leaps 
down  the  side  of  the  mountain,  or  where  the  silent 
and  majestic  river  mirrors  the  beauties  that  be- 
deck its  shores. 

Who  but  the  Infinite  can  duly  estimate  the  elevat- 
ing and  purifying  effect  of  such  surroundings?  Let  me 
quote  from  Ruskin :  "  There  is  a  religion  in  every- 
thing around  us,  a  calm  and  holy  religion  in  the  un- 
breathing  things  of  nature,  which  man  would  do  well 
to  imitate.  It  is  a  meek  and  blessed  influence  steal- 
ing in,  as  it  were,  unawares  upon  the  heart.  It  comes 
quietly  and  without  excitement ;  it  has  no  terror,  no 
gloom,  in  its  approaches ;  it  does  not  rouse  up  the 
passions  ;  it  is  untrammeled  by  the  creeds,  and  un- 
shadowed by  the  superstitions  of  man ;  it  is  fresh 
from  the  hands  of  its  Author,  glowing  from  the  im- 
mediate presence  of  the  Great  Spirit,  which  pervades 
and  quickens  it ;  it  is  written  on  the  arched  sky ;  it 
looks  out  from  every  star ;  it  is  on  the  sailing  cloud 
and  in  the  invisible  wind ;  it  is  among  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  the  earth,  where  the  shrubless  mountain- 
top  pierces  the  thin  atmosphere  of  eternal  winter,  or 
where  the  mighty  forest  fluctuates  before  the  strong 
wind   with    its   dark    waves   of  green    foliage ;   it  is 


The  Common  Man.  119 

spread  out,  like  a  legible  language,  upon  the  broad 
face  of  the  unsleeping  ocean ;  it  is  the  poetry  of 
nature.  It  is  this  which  uplifts  the  spirit  within  us 
until  it  is  strong  enough  to  overlook  the  shadows  of 
our  place  of  probation  ;  which  breaks,  link  after 
link,  the  chain  that  binds  us  to  materiality ;  and 
which  opens  to  our  imagination  a  world  of  spirit- 
ual beauty  and  holiness." 

The  common  man  needs  not  the  training  of  the 
college  or  the  drill  of  the  university  that  he  may  en- 
joy and  comprehend  the  teachings  of  nature.  The 
soul  of  the  unlettered  man  leaps  forth  with  wonder 
and  admiration  at  the  majesty  of  the  mountain  or 
the  lake  or  the  river,  and  joins  joyfully  in  the  har- 
mony of  nature's  music ;  for  he  feels  that  the  great 
diapason  is  love.  It  is  fair  to  conclude  that  the 
numbers  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes  have  been 
greatly  increased,  and  that  of  the  lowest  correspond- 
ingly reduced,  by  this  beneficent  act  of  Congress.  A 
generation  of  stalwart  men  and  pure  women  in  the 
great  AVest,  uncontaminated  by  the  vices  of  the  de- 
praved, is  the  rich  fruitage  of  that  legislation. 

If  all  this  be  true,  then  how  can  we  find  language 
strong  enough  to  condemn  the  foolishness  and  wick- 
edness of  Congress  in  giving  away  so  many  millions 
of  acres  of  our  public  domain  to  soulless  corpora- 
tions, thus  placing  the  heartless  and  mercenary  spec- 
ulator between  the  poor  and  brave  pioneer  and  a 
home  of  his  own  ?  Had  these  lands  been  kept  for 
the  actual  settler  alone,  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  a 
great  wave  of  pent  up  humanity  would  not  have 
swept  over  Oklahoma  in  a  single  day.     This  excit- 


120  The  Common  Man. 

iug  chase  of  thousands  for  a  home  should  open  the 
eyes  of  senators  and  representatives,  and  the  teach- 
ings of  this  wonderful  object-lesson  ought  to  bring  to 
them  remorse,  repentance,  and  reform. 

If,  in  the  newer  communities,  the  separations  from 
the  vices  of  the  city,  and  the  sweet  harmonies  of  na- 
ture all  about  him,  would  tend  to  awaken  the  dor- 
mant manhood,  even  of  the  lowest,  how  much  more 
might  be  accomplished  in  the  older  rural  districts 
and  the  smaller  towns,  with  the  aid  of  cultivated  and 
well-organized  society,  with  the  help  of  the  school, 
the  public  library,  the  press,  and  the  pulpit !  Here 
is  the  grand  mission-field  for  the  common  man  right 
at  his  own  door.  His  work  is  all  ready  for  his  hands 
and  his  heart.  He  has  no  new  language  to  learn;  no 
hostile  climate  to  contend  with;  no  long-settled  and 
unfamiliar  prejudices  or  customs  to  hedge  up  his 
way.  Let  the  upper  class  devise  the  best  methods, 
and  fire  the  soul  of  the  common  man  with  untiring 
enthusiasm.  Let  the  common  man  fill  his  own  heart 
and  soul  with  love  for  his  race,  and  countless  ave- 
nues of  usefulness  will  open  to  him,  and  while  he  is 
blessing  others  he  will  be  doubly  blessed  himself. 
He  can  not  be  said  to  have  really  lived  who  has  not 
blessed  others.  He  has  simply  existed.  He  may 
have  had  every  want  met.  He  may  have  had  all  that 
wealth  could  purchase  for  him.  He  may  have  had 
all  the  flattery  that  floats  around  those  in  palaces  and 
high  places;  but  he  has  known  nothing  of  the  exqui- 
site enjoyment  of  life,  unless  he  has  wiped  a  tear 
from  the  face  of  the  weeping  or  planted  a  new  joy  in 
the  heart  of  the  desponding. 


LIFE'S  GREAT  CONFLICT. 

HUMA^  life  is  a  sublime  and  almost  impenetra- 
ble mystery.  Man  is  a  giant  in  the  length, 
breadth,  and  depth  of  his  capabilities,  powers,  and 
possibilities,  and  yet  greatly  deficient  in  the  ability  to 
attain  the  highest  good  in  this  life.  AVhile  he  in- 
herits his  physical,  mental,  and  moral  forces,  and  can 
but  seldom  select  his  environments,  yet,  with  all  these 
helps  or  disabilities,  he  is  compelled,  whether  well  or 
ill  equipped,  to  make  the  contest  between  good  and 
evil ;  must  be  a  factor  for  the  weal  or  woe  of  society — 
a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  his  fellows.  In  a  general 
way,  youth  is  bright,  beautiful,  careless  and  happy, 
and  impatient  to  enter  the  contest  in  life,  cheered  on 
by  the  hope  and  belief  of  the  ability  to  overcome  all 
obstacles,  and  accomplish  all  that  any  in  like  condi- 
tions have  done  before. 

The  success  of  others  is  visible  and  real.  The 
man  in  middle  life,  who  has  gathered  in  a  rich  har- 
vest of  wealth  and  won  the  honors  of  the  world,  is 
an  object-lesson  that  the  young  look  at  with  wonder 
and  admiration.  What  he  has  won  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  open  day.  What  he  has  lost  is  not  to  be  seen  or 
known.  The  trophies  of  his  triumphs  are  tangible 
and  visible ;  but  the  quarter  of  a  century  of  toil,  of 


Delivered  at  the  Central  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

121 


122  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

plauuing  and  plotting,  the  mental  and  physical  labors, 
the  battles  with  his  conscience,  and  the  humiliating 
defeats  that  his  moral  sense  has  been  compelled  to 
endure,  are  the  unseen  things  of  his  career.  He  is 
seen  riding  on  the  waves  of  the  sea  of  life,  wearing 
the  crown  of  the  victor;  but  beneath  that  sea,  in  the 
unseen  depths,  as  in  the  ocean,  are  wreck  and  ruin. 
They  are  not  visible,  and  the  young  and  inexperi- 
enced do  not  even  suspect  their  existence.  The 
green  waves  of  the  ocean,  sporting  on  the  surface, 
cover  the  dangerous  rocks,  and  tell  nothing  of  the 
under-currents.  They  make  no  revelation  of  treach- 
erous reefs  and  whirlpools,  nor  do  they  reveal  the 
victims  of  all  these  hidden  dangers. 

So  of  human  life.  It  is  full  of  cross-currents 
and  conflicting  interests.  The  raging  of  the  ocean 
in  the  wildest  storm  is  calmness  when  compared  to 
the  fierce,  contending  emotions  and  passions  of  human 
life,  prom])ted  alone  by  the  low  and  selfish  motive  to 
concpier  the  world's  wealth  and  honor  for  the  glory  it 
will  give  the  victor. 

A  man's  contests  with  others  are  open  to  the 
world.  His  contentions  with  the  opposing  forces  of 
nature  can  not  be  concealed.  But  terrible  and  fierce 
as  all  these  may  be,  they  are  but  mere  skirmishes. 
The  terrific  battles  are  with  himself,  and  they  are 
hidden  from  the  eyes  of  the  world.  He  has  within  a 
keen  and  acute  moral  sense — an  innate  perception  of 
justice  and  equity.  He  has  a  perfect  consciousness 
that  his  highest  joy  comes  from  the  guidance  of  this 
monitor  within.     The  love  for  his  fellows  re-enforces 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  123 

this  divine  essence  of  the  man,  and  they  together 
undertake  to  guide  and  control  his  life;  but  they 
soon  encounter  the  cross-currents  of  ambition  and 
avarice,  supplemented  with  the  hell-born  brood  of 
envy,  jealousy,  and  hate,  and  the  battle  is  on. 

You  all  remember  Shakespeare's  description  of 
the  condition  of  mind  of  Brutus  when  conspiring 
against  the  life  of  Caesar.     He  makes  Brutus  say : 

"Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma  or  a  hideous  dream ; 
The  genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  there  in  council ;  and  the  state  of  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

All  these  arise  from  the  mere  resolution  to  over- 
ride conscience — only  the  contemplation  of  evil- 
doing — producing  in  the  soul  of  the  great  Brutus  all 
the  horrors  of  anai'chy.  The  fearful  and  gaping 
wounds  on  the  body  of  the  dead  Csesar,  by  the  dagger 
of  Brutus,  so  eloquently  pointed  at  before  the  common 
people  by  Mark  Anthony,  were  horrible.  But  each 
gash  made  in  the  body  of  Cfesar  by  Brutus  made  a 
wider  and  deeper  and  more  deadly  one  on  the  man- 
hood of  Brutus;  and  the  insurrection  that  the  murder 
of  Cffisar  caused  in  the  city  of  Rome  was  more  than 
duplicated  in  the  souls  of  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  their 
co-conspirators. 

It  makes  our  blood  run  cold  when  we  read,  in 
Shakespeare's  Richard  the  Third,  the  soliloquy  of 
the  wicked  Richard,  as  he  lies  on  the   field  of  battle. 


124  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

Brutus  speaks  before  the  crime ;    Richard,  afterwards. 
Both  are  terrible.     Kiug  Richard  soliloquizes: 

"O  coward  conscience,  how  dost  thou  afflict  me! 
The  lights  burn  blue.     It  is  now  dead  midnight. 
Cold,  fearful  drops  stand  on  my  trembling  flesh. 
What  do  I  fear?    Myself?    There 's  none  else  by ; 
Richard  loves  Richard ;  that  is,  I  am  I. 
Is  there  a  murderer  here?    No, — yes;  I  am. 
Then  fly, — what,  from  myself  ?  Great  reason.  Why? 
Lest  I  revenge.    What?    Myself  on  myself  ? 
I  love  myself.    Wherefore?    For  any  good 
That  I  myself  have  done  unto  myself? 

0  no,  alas!     I  rather  hate  myself, 

For  hateful  deeds  committed  bj'^  myself. 

1  am  a  villain !    Yet  I  lie ;  I  am  not. 

Fool,  of  thyself  speak  well ;  fool,  do  not  flatter. 
My  conscience  hath  a  thousand  several  tongues, 
And  every  tongue  brings  in  a  several  tale, 
And  every  tale  condemns  me  for  a  villain." 

If  the  phantasma  before  the  performing  of  the 
wickedness  produces  such  a  commotion  in  the  soul  as 
to  make  no  less  a  figure  than  an  insurrection  portray 
the  condition,  how  much  more  terrible  when  the 
phantasm  becomes  a  reality,  so  vividly  set  forth  by 
King  Richard's  confession !  AVhile  the  former  is  the 
W'hirlwind,  the  latter  is  the  destructive  cyclone  of 
recollected  misdeeds.  It  was  South  who  said :  "  No 
honor,  no  fortune,  can  keep  a  man  from  being  miser- 
able, when  an  enraged  conscience  shall  fly  at  him  and 
take  him  by  the  throat." 

But  it  may  be  said  that,  while  the  great  and 
cultured — like  Brutus  and  Richard,  men  of  power 
and  influence — would  thus  be  tormented,  the  com- 
mon criminal,  in  the  lowest  condition  of  life,  would 
be  insensible   to   such    suffering.      Charles   Dickens, 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  125 

who  secracd  to  have  a  keener  and  eloser  comprehen- 
sion of  the  thoughts  and  motives  of  the  lower  classes 
than  any  other  writer,  ancient  or  modern,  does  not 
corroborate  that  theory.  In  the  beautiful  story  en- 
titled "Our  Mutual  Friend,"  Dickens  has  Eugene  to 
say  to  Mortimer  Lightwood,  his  co-criminal:  ''Invis- 
il>Ie  insects,  of  diabolical  activities,  swarm  in  this 
place.  I  am  tickled  and  twitched  all  over.  Men- 
tally, I  have  now  committed  a  burglary  under  the 
meanest  circumstances,  and  the  myrmidons  of  justice 
are  at  my  heels." 

If  the  diabolical  activities  of  the  terrible  swarms 
of  invisible  tormentors  that  germinate  in  the  blood 
of  an  assaulted  conscience  could  thus  be  revealed  in 
each  case  to  the  view  of  the  bystanders,  it  would 
seem  that  men  would  flee  to  the  safe  harbor  of 
their  own  moral  sense,  and  seek  for  happiness, 
not  in  greed  and  gain  and  the  achievement  of  the 
evanescent  honors  of  the  world,  but  in  possessing 
a  consciousness  of  their  own  integrity,  and  in  the 
indescribable  bliss  of  living  in  harmony  with  their 
own  higher  manhood. 

This  contest  is  not  confined  to  the  conspirators  at 
the  courts  of  emperors  or  the  King  Richards,  or  the 
thieves  and  the  burglars  in  the  slums  of  the  cities. 
The  contest  comes  to  every  rational  human  being, 
high  or  low.  It  is  not  a  contest  of  a  day  or  a  year, 
but  is  with  each  and  every  soul  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  life.  It  is  the  great  battle  of  human- 
ity, each  man  fighting  it  for  himself  and  with  him- 
self. And  the  individual  victories  for  the  right,  and 
the    triumphs    of   the    innate    moral    sense    over    the 


126  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

strong  and  contending  forces,  furnish  the  criteria  of 
human  advancement,  and  are  tlie  true  gauge  to  deter- 
mine the  cast  and  color  of  our  civilization. 

The  best  education  and  the  true  religion  of  hu- 
manity is  that  which  will  furnish  man  with  the  most 
eifective  weapons  to  combat  these  enemies  to  the 
highest  and  best  manhood.  It  gives  us  the  science 
of  sciences — that  of  knowing  how  to  live.  It  turns 
our  admiration  and  worship  from  the  man  of  power 
and  position  to  the  man  of  honor  and  honesty.  It 
elevates  righteousness  above  riches,  and  makes  justice 
the  crowning  jewel  in  human  life  and  character.  It 
is  this  that  pushes  rapidly  forward  the  car  of  human 
progress.  * 

Not  the  overpowering  of  monarchies  that  trample 
under  foot  the  rights  of  man ;  not  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  a  race  from  the  shackles  of  slavery, — these 
are  not  the  greatest  victories  that  give  lasting  hope 
and  bright  assurance  for  the  future  of  the  race. 
These  disruptions  and  convulsions  are  the  indications 
that  the  individual  man  is  coming  out  the  victor  over 
himself;  that  he  is  rising  to  a  fuller  and  broader  com- 
prehension of  his  dignity  and  worth  as  a  man ;  that 
the  manly  courage  that  is  ever  standing  by  the  side  of 
all  that  is  true  and  right,  is  enlisting  him  in  the  army 
of  the  righteous. 

Law  and  order  may  prevail  here,  and  anarchy  run 
riot  there;  monarchies  may  tumble  and  fall,  and  re- 
publics take  their  places.  The  Nihilist,  Avith  his 
demon  and  dynamite,  may  bury  kings  in  the  ruins  of 
their  own  palaces,  and  lawless  Socialism  may  glare  in 
grim  antagonism,  defying  the  police  p  )wers  of  govern- 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  Vll 

ment;  wars  may  be  waged  between  the  great  powers 
until  a  continent  is  involved  in  l)lood  and  carnage, 
until  the  death-dealing  shot  and  shell  may  change 
the  boundaries  of  empires;  yet  all  this  horrid  com- 
motion is  but  the  surface  indication  of  what  the  indi- 
vidual man  has  thought  and  done.  If  he  lias  been 
defeated  in  the  fight  for  a  noble  manhood,  and  is  cap- 
tured by  the  demon  of  evil,  surrounded  with  the 
darkness  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  enervated  by 
lust  and  intemperance,  and  brutalized  by  the  assas- 
sins of  his  own  moral  sense,  then  he  falls  an  easy 
victim  to  the  ambitious  autocrat.  He  can  be  marched 
off  with  his  fellows  in  like  condition  to  the  battle- 
field, not  knowing  for  what  he  is  fighting,  or  why  he 
is  required  to  die. 

You  can  not  build  up  and  make  strong  the  man- 
liness of  a  man  by  merely  increasing  his  scientific 
knowledge.  In  my  opinion,  you  develop  no  virtue 
nor  add  anything  to  his  courage  by  enabling  him  to 
gras})  the  mysterious  problems  in  mathematics  or  in 
having  him  acquire  the  hidden  mysteries  of  human 
language.  These  alone  will  make  him  a  scholar;  but 
they  will  not  make  him  a  man.  The  very  essence  of 
his  life  is  his  moral  sense, — his  love  of  right  for  its 
own  sake.  It  is  this  that  causes  him  to  do  and  dare 
and  die  for  the  truth.  It  is  this  that  gives  to  hu- 
manity the  majesty  of  divinity,  and  lends  to  human 
action  the  charm  of  angelic  beauty.  It  is  the  very 
light  of  God  himself,  burning  in  the  soul,  dark  with 
ignorance  and  surrounded  with  the  fogs  of  supersti- 
tion. He  has  given  the  liglit  to  none  other  of  his 
creatures.     It  reveals  to  man  his  connection  with  the 


128  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

source  of  all  life  and  all  love.  It  leads  him  up  to  the 
high  plaius  of  justice,  aud  bids  him  walk  in  the  flow- 
cry  fields  of  mercy  and  charity.  It  guides  his  foot- 
steps from  the  paths  of  shame  and  remorse,  and  fills 
his  soul  with  the  sweet  consciousness  of  being  in  com- 
plete harmony  with  himself.  It  enables  him  to  see 
the  vulgarity  of  vice,  and  causes  him  to  shrink  back 
from  crime  with  horror. 

That  he  has  been  thus  touched  by  the  finger  of 
the  Infinite,  and  made  an  heir  of  immortality,  magni- 
fies and  ennobles  his  being, — because  right  and  jus- 
tice and  love  are  immortal,  and  to  have  an  innate 
perception  to  know  them  at  once  without  the  aid  of 
education  or  the  slow  process  of  human  reasoning, 
is  to  make  man  himself  immortal. 

In  Leckey's  ''  History  of  Morals "  the  great 
author,  in  discussing  our  moral  sense,  says :  "  While 
each  of  our  senses  or  appetites  has  a  restricted  sjihere 
of  operation,  it  is  the  function  of  conscience  to  survey 
the  whole  constitution  of  our  being,  and  assign  limits 
to  the  gratification  of  all  our  various  passions  and 
desires.  .  Differing,  not  in  degree,  but  in  kind,  from 
the  other  princi])lcs  of  nature,  we  feel  that  a  course 
'jf  conduct  which  is  opposed  to  it  may  be  intelligibly 
described  as  unnatural,  even  when  in  accordance  with 
our  most  natural  appetites;  for  to  our  conscience  is 
assigned  the  prerogative  of  judging  and  restraining 
them  all.  Its  power  may  be  insignificant,  but  its 
title  is  undisputed;  and  'if  it  had  the  might  as  it  has 
the  right,  it  would  govern  the  world.'  It  is  this  fac- 
ulty, distinct  from  and  superior  to  all  appetites,  pas- 
sions, and  tastes,  that  makes  virtue  the  supreme  law 


LiFE'^  Great  Conflict.  129 

of  life,  and  adds  imperative  character  to  the  feeling 
of  attraction  it  inspires.  It  is  this  which  is  described 
by  Cicero  as  the  god  ruling  in  them,  by  the  Stoics 
as  the  sovereignty  of  reason,  by  St.  Paul  as  the 
law  of  nature,  by  Butler  as  the  supremacy  of  con- 
science." 

I  said  in  the  beginning  that  the  constitution  of 
Aian  and  the  course  of  human  action  is  a  great  mys- 
tery. Now  herein  is  the  mystery.  This  light  that 
God  has  given  man  to  cause  him  to  know  his  relation 
to  the  infinite  and  eternal,  and  have  him  comprehend 
the  dignity  of  his  own  existence,  in  the  perversity  of 
his  nature  he  often  refuses  to  follow.  He  allows  him- 
self to  be  led  away  by  the  illusory  lights  of  avarice 
or  ambition,  and  when  his  conscience  rebukes  him, 
he  attempts  to  assassinate  this  his  best  friend;  and 
then  the  great  conflict  begins,  and  the  strife  is 
whether  good  or  evil  shall  take  the  possession  and 
control  of  his  life. 

And  this  comes  to  every  rational  human  being. 
None  escape.  Some  win  such  a  victory  in  the  onset, 
and,  with  a  determined  spirit,  camp  on  the  ground, 
and  sleep  Avith  their  armor  on  so  constantly  that  the 
evil  is  kept  at  bay.  But  evil  is  vigilant,  and,  waiting 
for  the  distracting  hours  of  adversity  or  the  ener- 
vating effects  of  old  age,  will  renew  the  attack.  In 
the  aggregate  of  the  successes  and  failures,  the  vic- 
tories and  the  defeats,  we  fix  the  level  of  public  mor- 
als, and  determine  the  degree  of  progress  we  are 
making  toward  the  seemingly  far-off  yet  longed-for 
period  called  the  millennium. 

But  it  is  not  my  purpose,  on  this  occasion,  to  at- 


130  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

tempt  to  prophesy  or  philosophize.  I  have  but  little 
confidence  in  my  ability  to  do  either;  but  I  hope  1 
may  be  able  to  be  practical. 

Let  me  say,  then,  that  conscience  holds  the  key 
to  human  happiness.  I  do  not  think  that  an  excep- 
tion can  be  found  where  any  human  being  has  over- 
ridden all  moral  perceptions,  no  matter  what  else  he 
may  have  attained  in  wealth  or  fame  or  what  may  be 
called  the  world's  pleasures,  but  that  the  life  is  a 
wretched  failure.  If  a  man  have  all  that  heart  could 
wish,  have  every  want  met  and  every  passion  and  ap- 
petite gratified,  and  have  his  conscience  against  him, 
he  is  a  wreck  and  a  ruin.  It  must  be  so  from  the 
very  constitution  and  organization  of  the  soul  of  man. 
It  is  so,  because  the  history  of  the  race  in  all  ages, 
and  the  experience  of  man  everywhere,  corroborates 
its  truth.  Yet,  with  all  the  vast  accumulation  of  ex- 
perience from  civilized  as  well  as  uncivilized  hu- 
manity, the  demons  of  evil  are  permitted,  as  one 
generation  passes  away,  to  fasten  themselves  on  the 
next,  and  are  too  often  enabled  to  exhibit  new  phases 
of  human  depravity  exceeding  in  evil  aspects  any 
that  have  preceded  it. 

That  there  is  a  constant  and  rapid  increase  of 
scientific  knowledge,  and  a  general  diffusion  of  the 
same  among  the  common  people,  will  be  conceded. 
We  watch  with  eagerness  to  see  if  there  be  in  all 
this  any  re-enforcing  power  to  man's  conception  of 
and  love  for  the  right.  Does  it  aid  him  to  mak^  his 
conscience  the  dominating  force  of  his  life,  and  help 
him  to  combat  evil?  Is  the  race  growing  better  or 
worse?     Who  can  intelligently  and  truthfully  answer 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  131 

the  question  ?  The  wrecker  places  his  false  and  de- 
ceptive lights  on  the  shore,  and  the  commander  of 
the  passing  vessel,  forgetting  where  the  true  light  is 
and  neglecting  his  chart  and  compass,  is  led  by  the 
delusion  to  be  wrecked  on  the  rocks  beneath  the 
surface. 

While  it  is  claimed  that  the  acquirement  of  more 
knowledge  builds  up  and  makes  stronger  the  self-re- 
spect of  the  individual  man,  and  thus  helps  in  the 
right  directiou,  yet  it  is  insisted  that  that  is  more 
than  lost  by  the  increase  in  number,  and  the  deceptive 
character  of  the  false  lights  that  are  the  attendants 
of  this  progress.  This  is  the  view  of  the  pessimist, 
and  may  not  be  well  founded.  It  is  possible  if  the 
self-love  be  increased,  and  a  broader  conception  of 
the  significance  of  human  existence  be  imparted,  his  in- 
clination to  seek  the  highest  good  may  be  strengthened. 

But  Plato  and  Montague  and  other  great  phi- 
losophers have  held  that  the  true  and  only  philosophy 
of  life  are  constancy,  faith,  and  sincerity.  What  are 
these  false  lights  on  the  shores  of  human  destiny 
that  cause  man  to  forsake  the  true  and  divine  light 
within  him,  and  wreck  his  happiness  in  followiug 
these  delusions  ?  As  you  look  out  on  the  vast  field 
(if  human  activities  and  ambitions  in  this  restless  age, 
they  seem  to  be  innumerable,  and  some  of  them  (to 
the  majority  of  humanity)  almost  irresistible. 

One  of  these,  and  perhaps  the  most  dangerous,  is 
the  desire  for  riches.  Man's  moral  sense  has  no  more 
deadly  foe  than  this  strange  and  overpowering  pas- 
sion of  the  human  heart — a  passion  that  can  give  no 
good   and  sufficient  reason  for  existence.     It   brings 


132  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

its  victim  dowu  to  the  low  plane  of  living  for  the 
gratification  of  a  single  purpose — that  of  seeing  how 
much  wealth  he  can  gather  up  in  a  life-time.  The 
man  is  brutalized  in  the  very  start  by  basely  sur- 
rendering himself  to  such  a  controlling  motive. 
This  is  in  no  respect  akin  to  a  wise  and  provident 
disposition  to  prepare  for  old  age  or  the  days  when 
affliction  may  come,  but  is  a  groveling  avarice  for  a 
great  fortune.  He  closes  his  eyes  to  all  human  suffer- 
ing, and  his  ears  to  the  calls  for  pity,  and  rushes  on, 
leaving  the  starving  to  starve  and  the  dying  to  die. 
The  flame  of  covetousness  in  his  heart  consumes  or 
sears  over  all  the  tender  and  sensitive  chords,  so  that 
his  heart  is  hardened  and  his  soul  is  withered,  and 
all  capacity  for  real  happiness  is  wasted  and  de- 
stroyed. His  insatiate  desire  for  more  wealth  is 
never  satisfied,  and  the  man,  surrounded  with  his 
gold  and  his  stocks  and  his  farms,  is  poor  and  miser- 
able and  wretched. 

The  remorse  and  shame  of  having  denied  all  de- 
mands on  his  benevolence,  of  having  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  cry  for  help  from  the  jjoor  ami  the  unfortu- 
nate, and  the  fearful  consciousness  of  having  cheated 
and  swindled  those  who  confided  in  him,  and  de- 
ceived and  lied  times  without  number  to  compass 
his  mercenary  ends,  destroys  such  a  man's  peace.  He 
is  compelled  to  plead  guilty  to  all  these  and  many  other 
kindred  accusations  that  his  conscience  constantly 
brings  to  his  recollection.  For  consolation  he  foots 
up  his  gains.  They  amount  to  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands. He  could  enjoy  his  financial  success,  but  his 
outraged   moral    sense    compels    him   to    add    up    his 


LiF'E's  Great  Conflict.  133 

losses.  Ill  the  twenty-five  years'  contest  he  has  lost 
the  integrity  and  purity  of  his  young  manhood;  he 
has  lost  all  confidence  in  himself  and  his  fellow-men; 
he  has  lost  all  his  social  relations  and  social  culture ; 
he  has  lost  his  love  for  right,  for  truth,  for  his 
fellow-men,  and  for  his  God.  He  has  exchanged  a 
})ure  young  man  with  a  happy  heart  and  manly  pur- 
poses for  a  rich  and  wretched  old  villain.  He  has 
lost  all  the  sweets  of  his  home-life ;  for  the  hot,  mad 
passion  for  wealth  has  swept  through  the  home  like 
the  deadly  simoom,  drying  up  and  consuming  all  his 
love  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  withering  all 
their  regard  for  him.  He  wakes  up  to  the  sickening 
fact  that  he  has  lost  himself.  If  it  were  possible,  he 
would  gladly  exchange  all  his  gains  for  even  a  small 
per  cent  of  his  losses. 

As  I  said  in  tiie  beginning,  his  great  gains  are 
visible,  but  his  greater  losses  are  only  known  to  himself 
and  his  God.  It  is  true  the  lines  of  discontent  and 
defeat  may  be  seen  in  his  face ;  his  weary  and  hope- 
less expression  and  the  vacant  and  yet  restless  look 
may  not  escape  the  observation  of  the  discerning; 
but  the  world  generally  sees  nothing  of  all  this,  and 
especially  the  young  and  inexperienced  do  not  even 
suspect  his  misery.  They  behold  only  his  fortune, 
and  note  the  adoration  that  the  world  gives  to  his 
wealth.  By  common  consent  in  this  mercenary  age, 
his  wealth  elevates  him  to  a  hig-her  level  than  that 
of  the  poorer  class  around  him,  and  men  gaze  upon 
him  and  glorify  his  success.  But  he  is  a  false  light 
and  a  failure,  and  the  same  hard  lot  will  come  to  all 
who  follow  his  footsteps. 


134  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

You  will  not  uiulerstantl  me  to  say  that  this  is 
the  sad  fate  of  all  who  become  rich.  Riches  are 
often  inherited,  and  not  unfrequently  acquired  by 
the  far-seeing,  in  complete  accord  with  moral  convic- 
tion and  without  any  conflict  with  conscience.  But 
I  do  declare  that  it  is  my  firm  and  sincere  belief 
that  when  the  mercenary  spirit  has  the  supreme  con- 
trol of  human  life,  if  every  other  motive  is  mad-e 
subordinate  and  subsidiary  to  the  acquisition  of 
money,  for  the  love  of  wealth  itself,  such  a  man  can 
not  be  an  honest  man.  He  will  be  constantly  at  war 
with  his  outraged  moral  sense. 

We  all  remember  the  story  we  read  in  our  child- 
hood of  the  great  magnetic  mountain  by  the  sea.  If 
a  ship  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  land  at  the  base  of 
this  mountain,  the  magnetic  forces  within  drew  out 
all  the  iron  bolts  and  steel  fastenings  of  the  vessel, 
so  that  it  at  once  became  a  more  complete  wreck 
than  if  it  had  been  driven  against  the  rocks  by  the 
angry  waves.  So  this  inordinate  love  for  money  will 
destroy  all  the  bolts  of  conscience,  and  remove  all 
the  restraints  of  justice,  and  certain  moral  wreck  and 
ruin  will  be  the  inevitable  result. 

Let  us  take  another  object-lesson  from  the 
political  arena.  Let  us  note  that  selfish  ambition  is 
as  formidable  an  enemy  to  the  guidance  of  our  moral 
sense  as  avarice.  The  well-endowed  young  man 
-with  a  clear  head  and  an  honest  heart,  charmed  by 
the  glamour  of  political  life,  enters  the  field  of 
politics.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  let  us  follow 
him  in  the  swim  and  current,  until  he  reaches  the 
broad  ocean    of   national   fame.     He  has  never   met 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  loo 

with  political  defeat.  Step  by  step  he  has  ascended  the 
ladder  of  political  preferment,  and,  as  the  world  sees 
it,  he  has  made  a  grand  and  brilliant  success.  With 
his  riper  experience  with  men  and  affairs,  and  his 
higher  elevation,  has  come  greatly  increased  power, 
until  he  is  the  acknowledged  leader  and  idol  of  his 
party.  His  partisan  adherents  follow  him  with  their 
cheers  and  adulation,  and  are  ready  to  do  his  bidding ; 
and  the  partisan  press  laud  his  wisdom,  declaring 
him  to  be  a  statesman  without  a  peer,  and  prophesy 
greater  honors  for  the  hero  in  the  near  future.  To 
the  multitude  he  is  an  uncrowned  king  among  men. 

All  of  this  is  open  to  the  world,  and  the  young 
man,  as  he  looks  on,  regards  him  as  having  reached 
the  very  acme  of  human  glory  and  happiness.  To 
the  looker-on  these  are  great  and  substantial  gains, 
and  men  envy  his  good  fortune.  But  let  us  take  a 
careful  and  honest  inventory  of  his  losses.  Early  in 
his  career  he  discovers  that  he  has  the  rare  gift  of 
controlling  the  thoughts  and  actions  of  men,  that  he 
is  endowed  with  that  magnetic  power  that  consti- 
tutes a  man  a  born  leader  of  his  fellows.  It  is  a 
revelation  that  adds  more  stimulus  to  his  ambition 
and  strengthens  and  confirms  his  hopes  of  greater 
conquests  in  the  future  in  the  domain  of  political 
achievement. 

His  conscience  reminds  him  that  this  great  gift 
is  God-given,  and  that  he  must  use  it  to  put  down 
the  wrong  and  establish  the  right ;  that  he  must  assail 
existing  evils;  must  consecrate  his  great  power  to 
the  elevation  and  betterment  of  the  condition  of  his 
fellow-men ;  must  lift  men  out  of  the  gutter  of  igno- 


136  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

rauce  and  beastliness,  and  assist  them  to  stand  erect 
in  their  manhood,  free  from  vicious  habits  and  evil 
practices.  But  he  soon  discovers  that  vice  is  aggress- 
ive and  combative,  and  will  resent  and  resist  his  at- 
tempts at  reform.  The  vicious  have  votes  as  Nvell  as 
the  virtuous.  His  conscience  bids  him  speak  and 
act.  His  ambition  and  caution  tell  him  to  be  silent 
and  neutral. 

And  now  the  contest  comes  to  him,  and  he  is  soon 
found  following  the  lead  of  his  ambition,  and  con- 
science has  lost  the  command  of  his  soul.  The  world 
holds  him  a  hero,  while  he  knows  himself  to  be  a 
skulking  coward.  And  when  his  party,  anxious  for 
party  triumph,  takes  an  equivocal  position  that,  like 
the  oracles  of  Delphi,  may  mean  whatever  the  con- 
struction of  human  ingenuity  may  give  it,  he,  with 
his  eloquence  and  powers  of  persuasion,  declares  to 
one  it  means  one  thing,  and  to  another  the  opposite; 
and  soon  he  has  to  write  not  only  coward,  but  hypo- 
crite and  liar,  opposite  the  name  that  the  world 
honors. 

Having  broken  down  the  restraints  of  his  moral 
sense,  he  is  now  ready  for  anything  to  accomplish 
his  ambitious  aims ;  and  when  the  ghouls  of  bribery 
and  corruption,  that  too  often  have  their  haunts  near 
official  position,  come  to  him,  he  falls  an  easy  victim ; 
and  now  he  has  to  write  villain  and  thief  opposite 
his  name.  While  he  receives  the  plaudits  of  his  de- 
ceived constituency  with  a  smile,  and  assumes  the 
garb  of  innocence,  his  guilty  soul  makes  his  life 
wretched. 

I  ought,  perhaps,  to  say  that  while  our  American 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  137 

politics  as  at  present  conducted  is  corrupting  in  all 
directions,  yet  I  do  not  mean  that  the  case  I  have 
put  represents  all  who  are  successful.  Honest  men 
often  win  the  highest  honors  in  politics,  yet  maintain 
their  integrity. 

If  the  victim  of  such  ruin  could  have  remaining 
sufficient  strength,  ability,  and  courage  to  give  to 
the  world  in  detail,  from  first  to  last,  the  fearful  con- 
test with  himself,  the  anguish  of  his  soul  as  he  felt 
the  coils  of  evil  closing  tighter  and  tighter  about  him, 
and  his  moral  power  of  resistance  growing  weaker 
and  weaker  as  he  peered  into  the  future,  and  it 
promised  nothing  but  shame  for  his  wages  and  re- 
morse as  a  compensation  for  all  his  work,  the  tragical 
volume  would  be  a  fearful  yet  beneficial  revelation 
to  humanity. 

All  fictions  and  tragedies  are  useless  as  teachers, 
except  so  far  as  they  truly  represent  what  we  con- 
ceive to  be  the  realities  of  life.  But  here  is  this 
great  tragedy  of  a  human  life,  faithfully  setting  forth 
its  trials  and  temptations,  its  victories  and  defeats, 
its  pitiful  cries  for  help  when  overcome  by  evil. 
Humanity  would  know  but  too  well  that  here 
is  no  fiction,  but  the  record  of  real  life  that  in  some 
degree  has  come  to  each  and  all,  day  by  day. 

It  is  not  the  record  of  the  victories  over  evil, 
but  rather  the  full  knowledge  of  the  dreadful  defeats, 
that  is  needed  to  prepare  us  for  the  great  conflict, — 
the  whole  truth  of  the  agonies  of  a  life  that  has  be- 
come a  moral  wreck.  But  this  can  not  be.  For  at 
the  end  of  such  a  life,  neither  the  courage  nor  the 
inclination  remains  to  o-ive  the  evidence  of  its  own 


138  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

misdeeds.     But   witli    tlu"   li«;lit   we  already   have,   \vc 
ought  to  aecomplish  more  and  greater  victories. 

Wiiat  humanity  needs  is  more  strength  to  resist 
rather  than  more  information  of  the  power  of  the 
enemy.  To  each  soul  comes  every  hour  the  sweet 
and  indescribable  joy  when  we  do  overcome  evil. 
We  need  not  the  dying  confession  of  the  victim  of 
evil  to  tell  us  of  the  certain  pain  and  penalty  that 
comes  swiftly  and  surely  when  we  do  what  conscience 
forbids. 

And  then  we  see  constantly  the  long  train  of 
wretchedness,  the  malevolence  and  the  misery,  the 
pauperism  and  the  prisons,  following  the  false  lights 
that  mislead  mankind.  We  have  the  light  within 
and  the  warnings  without,  yet  all  stumble,  and  many 
fall  and  surrender  to  the  complete  domination  of 
evil.  None  are  exempt.  The  restless  spirits  of 
malice  and  malevolence,  avarice  and  ambition,  jeal- 
ousy, envy,  and  falsehood,  seek  out  and  find  him  in 
the  populous  city,  and  out  on  the  border-line  of 
pioneer  life  ;  find  him  in  the  office  or  on  the  judicial 
bench  ;  find  him  in  the  pulpit,  and  lead  him  away 
from  the  right  and  from  his  God. 

The  Israelitlsh  bondmen  in  Egypt  could  sprinkle 
the  protecting  blood  on  the  door-posts  to  guard 
against  the  expected  destroying  angel,  and  have  hira 
pass  them  by;  but  what  can  keep  the  moral  sense  of 
humanity,  the  first-born  of  God's  love  for  the  race, 
from  the  assaults  of  these  demons  of  evil,  whose  com- 
ing is  not  announced,  but  who  are  ever  present,  wait- 
ing the  favoring  time  to  make  the  most  effective  at- 
tack?    Nothing  but  an  ever-abounding  faith  in  God, 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  139 

and  a  constant  and  increasing  love  for  tlio  right,  as 
his  best  gift  to  humanity,  will  shield  us  in  the 
conflict. 

Let  not  the  expectation  of  future  rcNvards,  or  the 
slavish  fear  of  punishment  in  the  life  beyond,  be 
made  the  incentive  to  nurture  and  develop  this  love 
for  the  right.  Such  motives  are  unworthy  a  high 
purpose.  We  must  love  the  right  for  its  own  divine 
excellence  ;  because  it  brings  us  near  the  source  of 
all  justice;  because  it  establishes  our  kinship  with 
Him  who  created  love  and  established  righteousness ; 
because  it  is  the  bond  of  union  between  man  and 
his  Maker. 

This  inborn  ability  to  accurately  detect  the  moral 
quality  of  human  action  was  the  wonder  and  amaze- 
ment of  the  ancient  philosophers.  Long  before  the 
Bible  or  Christ  came  to  man,  they  recognized  this 
wonderful  endowment  of  humanity,  and,  without  the 
aid  of  divine  revelation,  pronounced  it  the  work  of 
infinite  wisdom.  In  their  analysis  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  mind  of  man,  they  saw  even  then,  with 
ignorance  and  idolatry  everywhere  prevailing,  that 
conscience  was  created  to  be  the  anointed  ruler  of 
man's  conduct  and  the  arbiter  of  human  action.  In 
the  absence  of  revelation,  they  made  this  mysterious 
power  in  man  the  basis  of  their  belief  that  there 
must  be  a  God  of  infinite  intelligence  and  infinite 
love. 

When  Paul  stood  on  Mars'  Hill,  and  spoke  to  the 
Athenians,  he  said :  "  Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive 
that  in  all  things  ye  are  too  superstitious.  For  as  I 
passed  by,  and  beheld  your  devotion,  I  found  an  altar 


140  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

with  this  inscription  :  TO  THE  UNKNOWN  GOD. 
Whom  thereiore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  declare 
I  unto  you."  Was  it  this  divine  attribute  in  man, 
towering  in  its  more  than  kingly  majesty  above  all 
the  learning  of  all  the  Greek  philosophers — above  the 
wisdom  of  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle — that  caused 
the  worshiping  Greek  to  make  this  inscription  on  the 
altar  of  his  devotion  ? 

Grote  says :  ''  The  mythical  world  of  the  Greeks 
opens  with  the  gods  anterior  as  well  as  superior  to 
man;  it  gradually  descends,  first  to  heroes,  and  next 
to  the  human  race."  And  another  writer  says:  "It 
is  rivaled  only  by  that  of  the  Indians  in  its  multi- 
farious wealth,  and  by  none  in  the  beauty  of  its 
form."  They  had  the  fauns  of  the  fields,  the  nymphs 
in  the  mountains  and  the  fountains,  the  dryads  in  the 
forests,  and  Muses  and  Graces  for  beauty  and  poetry. 

But  among  the  long  lists  of  gods  in  the  Hellenic 
mythology,  in  all  the  ingenuity  and  beauty  that  may 
be  found  in  the  writings  of  Grecian  philosophy  and 
mythology,  none  could  be  found  worthy  to  represent 
conscie-nce.  Hence,  by  this  divine  light  within,  this 
adoration  of  right  and  justice,  they  searched  in  the 
darkness  to  discover  the  author,  and  failing  to  find 
him,  may  we  not  assume  that  this  prompted  the 
Athenians,  in  their  love  and  gratitude  for  this  great 
gift  to  man,  to  erect  the  altar  to  the  UNKNOWN 
DEITY? 

When  the  light  of  Revelation  came,  they  saw 
then  whom,  as  the  apostle  said,  they  ignorantly  wor- 
shiped. And  when  they  came  to  know  that  He  cre- 
ated all  things,  and  to  understand  that  the  material 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  141 

universe  is  govorucd  by  his  law,  aud  as  they  saw 
more  aud  more  of  the  evidence  of  his  infinite  wisdom 
and  boundless  love  in  all  the  provisions  for  man  in 
the  material  aud  moral  world,  then  the  fogs  of  myth- 
ical lore  that  had  invested  the  control  of  field  aud 
forest,  winds  and  waves,  sea  and  season,  in  the  care  (jf 
the  gods  and  goddesses  of  mythology,  were  lifted,  and 
they  beheld  one  Supreme  Ruler  aud  Creator,  of  in- 
finite wisdom,  matchless  glory,  aud  boundless  love. 
They  knew  from  whom  came  the  moral  power  in 
man  to  intuitively  know  justice  aud  equity  aud  right- 
eousness. 

They  then  learned  that  his  infinite  love  had 
stamped  his  own  divine  image  on  each  human  soul, 
that  man  might  have  the  high  capacity  to  love  God  su- 
premely and  his  neighbor  as  himself,  and  that  he 
m'ight  do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  them  do  unto 
him.  Yea,  more  aud  better  still,  they  read  the  blessed 
story  that  he  had  sent  one  Man  to  abide  with  him  in 
this  world  of  evil,  to  be  tempted  as  he  was  tempted  ; 
One  with  like  human  passions — sent  him  to  help  mau 
in  his  great  contest  with  evil — One  who  was  the  very 
incarnation  of  lo,ve  aud  loveliness,  patience  aud 
purity  ;  One  who  gave  man  the  only  plan  by  whicli 
he  might  make  a  successful  battle,  aud  gain  th 
victory  in  his  life-campaign  against  the  demous  of 
evil.  Not  by  precept  only,  but  by  the  more  im- 
pressive force  of  example,  he  gave  to  man,  by  his 
own  pure  life,  the  encouraging  possibility  of  triumph. 

None  but  He  who  knowcth  all  things  can  prop- 
erly estimate  the  re-enforcing  power  of  his  divine 
lessons  and  peerless  example ;  none  else  can  tell  what 


142  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

would  have  bceu  the  conditiou  of  humanity  had  not 
tliis  Great  Helper  been  sent. 

AYhile  the  great  contest  is  the  individual  conflict 
of  every  rational  soul,  yet,  in  well-organized  society, 
individuals  may  be  massed  for  collective  warfare, 
oflPen.sive  and  defensive.  But  the  battalions  must  be 
well  drilled  and  strong  in  numbers,  or  they  will  not 
stand  firm  before  the  forces  of  evil.  The  individual 
moral  integrity  of  each  soldier  in  the  ranks  deter- 
mines the  status  at  last.  And  the  aggregation  of  the 
individuals  of  moral  worth  and  excellence  determines 
the  strength  of  the  foundation  upon  which  the  civil 
and  social  framework  of  society  rests.  It  is  this  that 
gives  the  tone  and  character  to  our  legislation,  and  the 
force  that  brings  the  violators  of  law  to  answer  for 
their  misdeeds. 

Properly  speaking,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as 
a  corrupt  public  sentiment  or  social  disorder.  When 
these  misnamed  conditions  exist,  it  is  because  the 
great  majority  of  individuals  have  fallen  into  evil 
practices  and  abandoned  their  moral  convictions. 
Therefore,  while  the  individual  man  is  intensely  in- 
terested in  his  own  triumph,  his  victory  is  a  matter  of 
deep  concern  to  all  about  him  ;  for  the  great  ques- 
tion constantly  arising  in  the  mind  of  the  patriot 
and  the  philanthropist  is,  Are  the  moral  heroes  suffi- 
cient in  numbers  to  uphold  the  pillars  of  good  gov- 
ernment, to  maintain  law  and  order,  so  that  all  may 
be  protected  in  their  property,  person,  and  char- 
acter? So  there  is,  to  some  extent,  a  collective  as  well 
as  individual  conflict — "For  no  man  liveth  to 
himself." 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  143 

That  the  individual  poAver  is  so  weak,  and  even 
the  united  masses  of  humanity  so  kicking  in  force, 
when  so  much  is  to  be  gained  by  victory  and  when 
all  is  to  be  lost  by  defeat,  has  been  the  wonder  and 
the  perplexity  of  the  ages.  Emerson  says :  "  The 
philosophy  of  six  thousand  years  has  not  searched 
the  chambers  and  magazines  of  the  soul.  In  its  ex- 
periments there  has  always  been  a  residuum  it  could 
not  resolve." 

The  patriot,  the  philanthropist,  and  the  Christian 
have  studied  the  condition  of  man  and  his  capabil- 
ities and  surroundings,  and  have  earnestly  sought  for 
more  help  to  aid  him  in  the  contest,  and  have  most 
profoundly  considered  whether  the  ethical  knowledge 
they  possess,  and  the  good  influences  and  forces  they 
can  command,  are  being  the  most  wisely  applied. 

It  has  been  a  conceded  fact  for  a  long  time  that 
mankind  inherit  physical  diseases.  We  are  just  be- 
ginning to  learn  that  man's  moral  disorders  may  also  be 
transmitted.  Intemperance  and  debauchery  may  taint 
and  corrupt  the  blood,  so  that  the  virus  may  flow  on, 
doing  its  deadly  work  for  many  generations.  So  may 
selfishness,  malice,  and  avarice  poison  and  pollute  the 
moral  sense,  tliat,  by  the  same  law  of  heredity,  the 
conscience  may  come  to  the  work  of  life  diseased  and 
disabled. 

For  those  with  inherited  weak  physical  constitu- 
tions, with  feeble  muscles  and  shattered  nerves,  we 
have  the  sincerest  pity,  and  treat  them  with  abundance 
of  patience.  AVe  commiserate  the  unfortunates  who 
are  born  with  consumption  and  scrofula  as  a  part  of 
their  inheritance,  and  to  them  we  minister  in   mercy. 


144  Life's  Great  Conflict. 

But  for  the  conscience  that  has  but  little  muscle  or 
nerve — for  the  nior^l  sense  that  has  inherited  the 
disease  of  hata,  hypocrisy,  or  selfisliness — we  make 
but  little  or  no  allowance.  We  do  not  pity,  but  pun- 
ish. Might  not  different  treatment  produce  better 
results?  Might  not  the  application  of  more  mercy 
and  greater  charity  resolve  a  portion  of  the  residuum 
that  Emerson  speaks  of?  Do  the  philosophic  re- 
formers apprehend,  with  all  its  force,  that  self-respect 
and  self-love  are  the  potent  forces  in  the  individual 
to  enable  him  to  make  a  good  fight?  Is  the  great 
reserve  force  sufficiently  recognized?  Do  we  not 
cripple  and  destroy  it  by  our  lack  of  charity?  Are 
we  not,  in  all  cases,  more  ready  to  condemn  than  to 
encourage? 

AVhen  the  soldier  falls  on  the  field  of  battle,  his 
comrade  by  his  side  stoops  tenderly  over  him,  and 
gives  him  the  last  drop  of  water  from  his  canteen, 
and  gently,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  bears  him  off  the 
field  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  calls  the  surgeon  and 
physician  to  minister  to  his  wounds.  Were  he,  when 
his  comrade  fell,  to  rebuke  him  for  being  wounded, 
and  leave  him  to  be  trampled  to  death  by  the  con- 
tending forces,  all  true  soldiers  would  denounce  him 
as  a  heartless  wretch.  Even  on  the  field  of  battle 
many  escape,  and  come  out  of  the  bloody  contest  un- 
hurt. But  in  life's  great  contest  with  evil  all  are 
wounded.  None  escape.  We  all  bear  the  scars  the 
enemy  has  given  us;  we  all  have  to  confess  to  defeat; 
we  all  have  known  the  humiliation  of  surrender;  we 
have  all  been  captured. 


Life's  Great  Conflict.  145 

Dr.  Holland,  in  that  wonderful  book  called  "Bit- 
ter Sweet,"  say.s : 

"  We  have  seen  evil  in  his  countless  forms 
In  those  poor  lives;  have  met  his  armed  hosts 
In  dread  encounter  and  discomfiture ; 
And  languished  in  captivity  to  them, 
Until  we  lost  our  courage  and  our  faith." 

As  all  suffer  in  this  contest,  the  tie  that  binds  us 
to  our  fellow-men  ought  to  be  more  tender  and  yet 
stronger  than  that  of  the  soldier  on  the  field  of  car- 
nage. Might  we  not  learn  a  good  lesson  from  the 
chivalric  conduct  of  the  brave  and  true  soldier? 
Would  it  not  help  us  all  to  make  a  better  fight  if,  in- 
stead of  exposing  the  gaping  wounds  evil  has  made 
on  all  about  us,  we  would  cover  up  with  love  and 
patience  their  defeats,  and  pour  in  the  healing  stream 
of  sympathy,  and  give  them  such  support,  so  that  they 
might  not  be  compelled  to  strike  their  colors  and  be 
marched  off  cajjtives,  to  follow  for  all  time  the  black 
flag  of  the  demons  of  evil  ? 

"  What  might  be  done,  if  men  were  true — 
What  glorious  deeds,  my  suffering  brother — 
Would  they  unite 
In  love  and  right, 
And  cease  their  scorn  of  one  another!" 
10 


WIS 


OUR   NEIGHBORS. 

N  a  man  is  alive,  according  to  biology,  it 


^  is~^vhen  he  is  in  correspondence  with  his  envi 
ronment.  Herbert  Spencer  says :  "  Life  is  the  defi- 
nite combination  of  heterogeneous  changes,  both 
simultaneous  and  successive,  in  correspondence  with 
co-existences  and  sequences;  or,  more  shortly,  the 
continuous  adjustment  of  internal  relations  and  exter- 
nal relations."  If  all  this  be  true,  and  it  becomes 
generally  known,  it  is  feared  the  list  of  suicides  will 
be  greatly  increased.  If  it  takes  all  this  simply  to 
live,  no  lazy  man  will  be  willing  to  exist.  I  very 
much  doubt  if  the  cultivated  biologist  gets  any  more 
comfort  out  of  his  existence  than  w^e  do  out  of  ours. 

Herbert  Spencer  also  tells  us  what  our  social  life  is. 
He  says :  "  The  behavior  of  the  social  unit  as  exposed 
to  environing  conditions,  organic,  inorganic,  and  su- 
perorganic,  depends  on  certain  additional  traits." 

Social  life  as  well  as  physical  life  requires  corre- 
spondence with  environment.  In  the  former,  it  is 
our  neighbors;  in  the  latter,  it  is  the  atmosphere. 
No  matter  what  the  constituent  elements  of  the  atmos- 
phere are,  we  have  to  breathe  it  anyway.  It  does  not 
help  the  matter  to  him  who  breathes  to  put  it  in  the 
form  of  an  equation,  viz.:  nitrogen  77j-|-oxygen  21-|- 


Delivered  before  the  Chautauquan  Assembly  at  Crete, 
Nebraska. 
146 


Our  Neighbors.  147 

aqueous  vapor  l-nro'+carbouic  acid  yfo"=^atmosphere. 
He  breathes  it  just  as  freely  and  gets  just  as  much 
out  of  it  without  the  equation  as  with  it.  To  him 
the  whole  question  is  one  of  wind;  and  so  it  seems 
to  me  is  the  polysyllabic  verbiage  of  the  modern  sci- 
entists in  regard  to  our  social  relations — too  much 
wind. 

Henry  Drummond,  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
has  recently  written  a  book  in  the  biological  style, 
and  has  called  it,  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World."  In  his  chapter  on  Environment  he  says  that 
nothing  in  this  age  is  more  needed  "than  the  rejuve- 
nescence of  the  commonplace."  When  we  saw  Her- 
bert Spencer,  Huxley,  Darwin,  and  others,  sailing 
around  in  the  upper  currents  of  the  circumambient 
atmosphere  astride  of  the  biggest  words  of  our  lan- 
guage, we  did  not  know,  nor  could  we  conceive,  w^hat 
they  were  doing.  We  know  now.  They  are  trying 
to  meet  this  pressing  need  of  the  age — they  are 
rejuvenating  the  commonplace.  How  did  they  dis- 
cover that  the  commonplace  was  growing  old?  We 
thought  it  was  looking  as  young  and  fresh  as  usual. 
And  then  we  are  tormented  with  a  host  of  doubts  as 
to  whether  these  modern  scientists  are  the  proper 
physicians  for  the  treatment  of  the  case,  even  if  old 
age  be  conceded. 

The  great  Huxley  says:  "I  do  not  suppose  that 
the  dead  soul  of  Peter  Bell,  of  whom  the  great  poet 
of  nature  wrote — 

'  A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 

A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him, 

And  it  was  nothincr  more' — 


148  Our  Neighbors. 

would  have  been  a  whit  roused  from  its  apathy  by 
the  iuforui-itiou  that  the  jirimrose  is  a  dicotyh'donous 
exogen,  with  a  monopetalous  corolla  and  ceutral  j)la- 
centation." 

If  these  scientific  vandals  would  make  an  assault 
like  this  on  an  inoffensive  and  lovely  primrose,  crush- 
ing its  sweet  life,  and  burying  it  beneath  the  weight 
of  the  unpronounceable  words  of  our  inexhaustible 
language,  what  mercy  could  we  hope  for,  who  have 
no  such  charms  or  innocence  to  protect  us? 

If  it  be  necessary  to  rejuvenate  the  commonplace, 
in  the  name  of  common  sense  let  it  be  done  in  such  a 
way  that  we  will  recognize  it  when  it  is  done.  The 
strange  and  unaccountable  thing  to  me  is,  that  the 
politicians  and  platform-makers  have  not  found  out 
that  there  was  something  wrong  with  the  common- 
place, and  tried  to  meet  this  great  public  want.  They 
are  active  in  reforming  everything  (but  themselves) ; 
and  as  the  old  issues  in  politics  have  become  thread- 
bare, and  are  out  at  the  elbows,  I  can  but  wonder 
that  some  party  has  not  "pointed  with  pride"  to  its 
political  banner  unfolded  to  welcoming  breezes,  on 
which  is  boldly  inscribed: 

"Whereas,  the  opposition  party  has  so  misman- 
aged affairs  that  the  commonplace  has  become  prema- 
turely old ;  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  we,  animated  with  the  loftiest  pa- 
triotism and  the  broadest  philanthropy,  do  declare 
and  publish  that  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  time- 
honored  organization  is  a  rejuvenescence  of  the  com- 
monplace." 

If   you    take  a   small    boy,   and    put   on  him    his 


Our  Neighbors.  149 

fatlier's  No.  8  stove-pipe  hat,  his  No.  12  boots,  and 
an  nlster  that  has  gotten  beyond  any  power  to  num- 
ber, you  have  not  increased  the  size  of  the  boy.  You 
may  even  smother  him.  You  have  placed  his  internal 
relations  in  such  a  condition  that  there  can  be  no  ad- 
justment with  his  external  relations,  so  that  he  can 
liave  no  sort  of  correspondence  with  his  environment. 
Neither  can  you  make  a  philosopher  by  having  him 
clothe  the  common  ideas  of  every-day  life  in  the  large 
and  unused  words  of  the  language.  Yet  men  are 
doing  this  very  thing,  and  we  come  to  think  they  are 
something  more  than  mortal  because  we  can  not  com- 
prehend their  verbiage.  But  they  are  only  mortal 
after  all.  They  go  to  protest  in  bank,  quarrel  with 
the  gas  company,  and  lose  the  buttons  off  their  shirts 
like  the  rest  of  us. 

We  may  think  we  own  but  little  personal  prop- 
erty until  we  have  to  move  out  of  one  house  and  into 
another;  and  then  we  find  that  we  have  such  a  surplus 
that  we  declare  a  dividend  with  the  drayman  and  all 
the  bystanders  who  will  kindly  take  something  off  our 
hands.  When  the  scientists  undertook  the  rejuve- 
nescence of  the  commonplace,  although  we  knew  our 
dictionary  was  large,  still  we  had  no  just  conception 
of  the  wealth  of  our  language.  It  was  like  a  move. 
They  went  into  the  closets,  into  the  attic,  into  the 
cellar  of  our  unabridged,  and  found  words  we  did  not 
know  we  owned — or  if  we  did  once  know,  we  had  for- 
gotten— and  had  such  a  surplus  on  hand  that  they  were 
able  to  say  of  the  very  simplest  commonplace  act  in 
life  "that  it  is  the  transformation  of  an  indefinite,  in- 
coherent homogeneity  into  definite,  coherent  hetero- 


150  Our  Neighbors. 

geneity,  which  goes  on  everywhere  until  it  brings 
about  a  reverse  transforniatiun."  All  this  happens 
when  you  black  your  boots,  have  your  picture  taken, 
put  something  into  the  contribution-box  on  Sunday, 
or  kiss  your  wife. 

In  order  to  make  a  complete  rejuvenescence  of  the 
commonplace,  the  biologist  is  obliged  to  divide  things 
into  the  absolute  and  the  relative.  It  often  happens 
to  be  a  little  difficult  to  follow  him — to  see  where  the 
absolute  ends  and  the  relative  begins.  But  two  of 
the  brightest  of  this  school,  the  most  advanced  think- 
ers, have  made  a  rule  which  is  so  clear  that,  if  followed 
to  the  letter,  it  is  easy.  The  rule,  they  say,  is  this : 
"  The  absolute  is  conceived  by  a  negation  of  conceiv- 
ability."  Having  gotten  this  firm  grip  on  the  abso- 
lute, it  is  easy  enough  to  separate  it  from  the  relative, 
and  you  may  be  expected  to  get  on  reasonably  well. 

The  importance  of  this  subject  to  a  clear  under- 
standing of  my  lecture  is  manifest.  We  must  know 
the  reality  of  our  own  existence;  we  must  be  abso- 
lutely conscious  of  our  own  identity.  We  now  know, 
of  course,  by  a  negation  of  conceivability,  ourselves 
from  our  neighbors.  If  we  were  so  far  in  doubt  that 
we  could  not  tell  ourselves  from  the  neighbors,  it  seems 
to  me  it  would  seriously  embarrass  our  social  life. 

Do  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that  in  my  biolog- 
ical researches  I  have  abandoned  my  neighbors.  You 
know  the  latest  style  of  the  lecture  platform  is  the 
prelude.  The  old  style  is  to  take  a  subject  and  stick 
to  it  from  Alpha  to  Omega.  I  think  a  ^conservative 
position  is  about  the  right  thing.  In  the  new  style  it 
is   not   required    that   the   prelude    should   be  a  near 


Our  Neighbors.  151 

relation,  a  distant  relation,  or  even  a  poor  relation  to 
the  lecture.  Anything  could  be  used  as  an  appetizer. 
It  is  thought  that  this  mode  was  suggested,  or  rather 
the  idea  was  conceived,  by  the  usual  conduct  of  an  or- 
chestra. They  detain  us  for  a  long  time  with  a  great 
variety  of  sounds  of  sawing  and  scraping  before  they 
launch  out  in  unison  in  the  grand  swell. 

Great  latitude  has  been  taken  by  those  who  pur- 
sue this  new  mode.  The  lecturer  announces  that  his 
subject  will  be  the  tender  and  delicate  relation  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  and  then  preludes  on  "a  tariff  for 
revenue  only."  He  is  to  lecture  on  the  subject  of 
finance,  and  then  preludes  on  the  average  depths  of 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  He  lectures  on  any  theme 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  night  and  local 
expenses,  and  in  his  prelude  he  delivers  an  able  and 
exhaustive  affirmative  reply  to  the  question.  Is  pov- 
erty a  crime  ? 

I  think  my  mode  the  best.  The  prelude  should 
take  a  good  neighborly  interest  in  the  lecture  so  that 
it  can  join  hands  with  it  at  any  time,  and  go  right 
along  with  such  unity  of  spirit  and  such  a  strong  re- 
semblance that  they  would  be  taken  for  brothers, — 
twins,  to  make  a  strong  case  of  it. 

Having  established  the  fact  that  we  are  not  our 
neighbors  and  our  neighbors  are  somebody  else  than 
ourselves ;  that  they  are  the  environment  that  we 
must  correspond  with  in  order  to  social  life, — let  us 
consider  the  character  and  advantage  of  the  relation. 

It  must  be  conceded  that,  in  all  civilized  lands, 
human  life  is  longer,  kinder,  and  nobler  than  it  has 
ever  been  before.     There  have  been  volumes  of  phil- 


152  Our  Neighbors. 

osopliic  speciilatiou  written  on  the  motive  power  that 
is  pushing  the  human  race  upward  to  a  higher  plane. 
Cranky  theorists,  crazy  hobby-riders,  and  literary 
dudes  without  number,  claim  to  hold  a  patent  right 
on  the  most  approved  method  of  civilization,  each 
one  pretending  and  claiming  to  have  made  a  corner 
on  progress. 

Casting  aside  all  these  pretentious  assumptions 
and  looking  at  the  condition  of  man  as  it  is  now, 
and  as  it  has  been,  we  can  but  conclude  that  his  social 
life  has  been  the  principal  factor  in  his  improvement. 
It  is  at  least  the  effective  medium  through  which  all 
the  other  elevating  forces  act.  It  must  be  conceded 
that  science  comes  daily  with  some  new  truth,  by  the 
light  of  which  some  new  law  is  revealed  to  guide  men 
upward.  Religion  stirs  the  divinity  within  and  puri- 
fies his  purposes,  and  lifts  him  above  the  material 
into  the  realm  of  the  spiritual.  Giving  each  a  lair 
share  of  credit,  they  accomplish  much  less,  indeed 
would  fail,  if  they  were  not  re-enforced  by  the  so- 
cial life  of  man.  What  could  science  accomplish  if 
each  one  were  a  recluse?  If  the  knoAvledge  were 
given  under  the  seal  of  secrecy,  so  that  we  dare  not 
communicate  and  compare  ideas  with  our  neighbors, 
the  tree  of  knowledge  would  cease  to  bear  fruit, 
would  wither  and  die,  and  we  would  rapidly  relapse 
into  barbarism.  If  there  was  just  enough  atmosphere 
and  sunshine  for  each  human  being,  and  his  share 
was  set  oif  to  him,  and  there  was  no  common  stock, 
this  world  would  be  a  cheerless  and  unhappy  place. 
But  darker  still  to  the  man  who  shuts  out  all  the 
social  light  about  him,  and  wanders  through  the  mazy 


Our  Neighbors.  153 

cells  of  his  soul  with  the  dun-lighted  candle  of  his 
own  selfish  life. 

The  sweet  flowers  of  love  and  charity,  with  their 
bright  hues  and  delicious  odors,  will  only  grow  in 
the  warm  sunlight  and  life-giving  air  of  mutual  con- 
fidence and  trust,  watered  with  the  refreshing  dews  of 
human  sympathy.  In  the  soul  of  the  man  who  re- 
fuses to  have  neighbors,  these  flowers  will  fade, 
wither,  and  die,  and  his  barren  spirit  will  curse  him, 
and  he  will  soon  come  to  hate  himself.  Human  inge- 
nuity has  never  yet  invented  a  felon's  cell  so  dark 
and  with  such  power  to  punish  the  ocoupaut,  as  the 
man  who  is  a  voluntary  prisoner  in  the  narrow  cell 
of  self.  Not  only  is  he  rendered  miserable  by  his 
selfishness,  but  he  is  unfitted  for  the  discharge  of  any 
of  the  obligations  growing  out  of  his  relations  to  his 
fellow-men.  By  his  selfishness  and  isolation  he 
ceases  to  fill  his  place  as  a  neighbor,  and  soon  has  no 
love  for  his  country.  Patriotism  will  only  be  found 
in  generous  hearts. 

Walter  Scott,  in  his  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel," 
had  such  a  character  in  his  mind  when  he  wrote  those 
beautiful  lines : 

"  Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land? 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand? 
If  such  there  be,  go,  mark  him  well ; 
For  him  no  minstrel's  raptures  swell. 
High  though  his  title,  proud  his  name, 
Boundless  his  wealth  as  wish  could  claim ; 
Despite  those  titles,  power  and  pelf, 


154  Our  Neighbors. 

The  wretch  concentered  all  in  self, 
Living  shall  forfeit  fair  renown, 
And,  doubly  dying,  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  dust  from  whence  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung." 

The  neighbors  are  properly  divisible  into  two 
classes — the  neighbors  in  general  and  the  neighbors  in 
particular.  The  neighbors  in  general  we  have  no 
voice  in  choosing;  the  neighbors  in  particular  we 
choose  ourselves.  Some  never  choose ;  and  I  am  not 
certain  but  they  act  wisely,  because  they  will  to  some 
extent  be  responsible  for  the  sentiments  and  conduct 
of  the  neighbor  in  particular.  If  you  select  him  out 
of  all  your  surroundings  as  your  special  friend,  he  is 
supposed,  to  a  great  extent,  to  reflect  yourself.  He  is 
indeed  a  sort  of  other  self.  It  is  assuming  a  large  re- 
sponsibility, for  the  reason  that  the  most  of  us  have 
all  we  can  do  to  answer  for  our  own  follies.  And  then 
if  our  neighbor  in  particular  should  deceive  us, 
and  we  should  find  he  was  not  all  tliat  fancy  had 
painted  him,  we  would  become  soured  with  all  the 
neighbors,  and  declaim  against  the  whole  world, — the 
worst  possible  condition  of  mind  for  happiness. 
Solomon  says :  "  Confidence  in  an  unfaithful  man 
in  time  of  trouble  is  like  a  broken  tooth  and  a  foot 
out  of  joint." 

And,  again,  it  is  a  sort  of  reflection  on  the  neigh- 
bors in  general  to  hold  them  at  a  distance ;  so  that  i  t" 
we  have  trouble  with  our  neighbor  in  particular,  they 
are  inclined  rather  to  enjoy  our  misery,  which  widens 
the  breach  between  us  and  them.  It  requires  the 
highest  kind  of  qualifications  to  fill  the  office  of 
neighbor  in  particular,  and  as  we  have  no  social  civil- 


Our  Neighbors.  155 

service  law  to  regulate,  and  no  social  civil-service 
commission  to  examine,  it  may  be  as  well  to  abolish 
office  and  cultivate  good  relations  with  all. 

By  using  the  term  man,  I  am  not  to  be  supposed 
as  ignoring  woman  as  an  important  factor  in  the 
neighborhood.  Indeed  a  neighborhood  without  her 
would  be  barbarism  over  again. 

Every  room  of  the  soul  ought  to  be  opened  and 
thoroughly  ventilated.  The  smile  and  sunshine  of 
the  neighbors  ought  to  shine  all  through  them,  to 
dispel  the  damp  and  must  that  will  gather  there  if 
they  are  kept  closed. 

The  full  influence  of  social  life  will  be  better  seen 
and  felt  in  the  towns,  rather  than  in  the  cities. 
Where  the  population  is  so  dense  and  so  often  chang- 
ing, the  social  life,  what  there  is  of  it,  is  formed 
around  some  existing  organization  or  some  custom 
or  habit  of  life.  The  members  of  the  same  Church 
or  literary  society,  or  some  euchre  or  champagne 
parties,  make  up  what  they  call  their  social  life. 
There  is  neither  breadth  nor  depth  to  it.  It  is  de- 
cidedly shallow.  The  narrow  circle  in  which  they 
move  keeps  them  narrow  and  intolerant,  so  that  the 
best  thought  and  largest  specimens  of  men  gener- 
ally come  from  the  town  and  country,  rather  than 
the  city. 

In  the  city,  too,  social  life  is  put  in  the  strait- 
jacket  of  style  and  fashion.  It  is  burdened  with 
forms  and  ceremonies.  And,  as  no  large  mind  cares 
to  spend  any  time  or  give  any  thought  about  mere 
forms,  the  best  of  society  live  within  themselves;  or, 
w^hen   hungry   for   social   life,   flee  to   the  country,  or 


156  Our  Neighbors. 

some  resort  wlierc  tlicy  are  not  oj^pressed  with  the 
tyranny  of  fasliion.  But  in  the  town  it  takes  the 
whole  population  to  make  up  a  quorum  for  neigh- 
borly work.  This  includes  every  order  and  cast  of 
mind,  and  every  shade  of  opinion  and  belief  This 
acts  like  a  refining  fire.  The  dross  is  constantly 
being  eliminated,  and  the  fittest  survives. 

The  contact  of  soul  with  soul  and  heart  with 
heart  and  mind  with  mind,  so  a\A^akens  our  sympa- 
thies and  excites  our  mutual  love  and  regard  and 
brightens  our  perceptions  that  each  is  giving  good 
gifts  to  the  other,  and  none  are  the  poorer.  The 
man  who,  with  the  delights  and  sorrows  of  life  all 
around  him,  refuses  to  have  his  life  intermingled  with 
that  of  his  neighbors;  who  is  insensible  to  their  suc- 
cesses and  defeats;  who  gives  and  receives  no  gener- 
ous trust  or  confidence;  who,  if  he  has  any  feeling 
for  his  fellow-men,  has  only  that  of  suspicion  and 
mistrust;  who,  in  short,  has  no  neighbors, — is,  in 
his  self-chosen  imprisonment,  more  unhappy  than 
the  anchorite  in  the  desert.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  happy  person  in  the  world  is  he  whose  merry 
laugh  rings  out,  and  falls  on  the  ears  of  those  about 
him,  and  is  sweeter  to  them  than  music,  and  whose 
smile  is  warmer  and  brighter  than  sunshine, — one 
who  confesses  by  his  confidence  and  his  joy  that 
the  principal  source  of  his  happiness  is  his 
neighbor. 

I  met  a  good  friend  of 'inine,  the  other  day,  from 
another  State,  and  I  asked  him  what  he  was  doing. 
He  said  he  had  quit  politics,  and  had  cast  away  every 
ambition   but  one.     I  asked  what  was   his  pet  ambi- 


Our  Neighbors.  157 

tiou  now.  He  replied:  "I  am  helping  everybody 
and  encouraging  everybody — putting  all  the  sunshine 
in  the  patlnvay  of  my  neighbors'  life ;  and,"  he 
added,  with  enthusiasm,  "  when  I  die  there  will  be 
the  grandest  demonstration  in  my  town  that  has  ever 
been  seen  there.  You  must  come."  I  told  him  I 
would,  if  he  would  let  me  know. 

The  truth  is,  such  a  man  ought  to  have  a  per- 
petual lease  on  life.  His  neighbors  would  prefer  to 
give  anything  grand  but  a  funeral.  The  reason  is 
that  he  is  in  perfect  correspondence  with  his  environ- 
ment. His  internal  relations  are  perfectly  adjusted 
to  his  external  relations.  He  is  meeting  all  the  de- 
mands of  sociology  and  biology.  His  neighbors  will 
stand  by  him,  and  give  him  a  good  name.  To  sup- 
pose otherwise  is  a  negation  of  conceivability.  Con- 
nected with  this  proposition  is  the  presumption  that 
his  environments  are  healthful — that  his  neighbors 
are  good  average  American  citizens,  worthy  the  fel- 
lowship of  such  a  royal  brother,  and  have  a  due  ap- 
preciation of  real  merit. 

If  you  want  to  get  at  the  real  merits  of  a  man, 
go  right  to  his  neighbors,  and  have  a  confidential  talk 
with  them.  There  you  will  get  the  facts.  Do  not 
go  to  the  Post-office  Department  or  the  Treasury, 
and  read  the  eulogies  that  have  been  obtained  by  a 
sort  of  duress  to  secure  for  him  the  appointment  of 
postmaster  or  whisky-gauger.  There  is  a  fearful 
lack  of  reliability  in  the  latter  source  of  infor- 
mation. 

You  can  trust  your  neighbors.  Ultimately  they 
will  put  a   proper  estimate  on   your  value,  and  they 


158  Our  Neighbors. 

will  stamp  that  value  on  your  name,  and  it  will  go 
for  that  much  and  uo  more.  You  can  not  deceive 
them  for  any  great  length  of  time.  No  better  evi- 
dence can  be  had  of  having  lived  a  good  life  than 
the  hearty  commendation  of  those  who  know  us  best 
and  longest.  But  it  must  be  given  with  a  vigorous 
enthusiasm — as  if  it  tasted  good  in  their  mouths  to 
say  it. 

I  started  out  with  the  proposition  that  our  social 
life  is  a  reformatory  force,  and  I  must  stand  by  it. 
The  good  man  that  I  have  described  is  largely  the 
handiwork  of  his  environment.  Get  a  man  to  hunger- 
ing for  the  good  opinion  of  those  who  see  him  daily, 
and  it  is  a  mighty  lever  to  lift  him  above  mean  ac- 
tions, and  a  strong  prop  to  hold  him  from  falling 
into  vicious  habits.  There  is  absolutely  no  telling 
how  many  mean  things  we  would  do  if  we  had  no 
neighbors  to  watch  us. 

Another  fact:  We  are  not  apt  in  seeing  our  own 
faults.  We  can  observe  the  defects  of  our  neighbors 
much  better.  We  are  thus  enabled  to  reform  our- 
selves, without  being  compelled  to  confess  ourselves 
that  we  are  simply  correcting  our  own  bad  habits. 
Our  neighbors  return  the  comjjliment,  and  both  are 
reformed,  and  neither  is  put  to  shame. 

It  saves  a  vast  amount  of  personal  humiliation, 
and  makes  reformation  easy  for  us,  to  simply  avoid 
copying  our  neighbors'  follies,  and  thus  escape  the 
chagrin  of  pleading  guilty  to  our  own.  But  none 
but  actual  and  permanent  residents  of  a  neighbor- 
hood can  reap  this  advantage.  The  people  who  are 
constantly  moving  out  of  one   neighborhood  into  an- 


Our  Neighbors.  159 

other,  never  reform.  I  do  not  mean  those  who  are 
compelled  to  move  from  circumstances  over  which 
they  have  no  control ;  I  mean  such  as,  for  a  few  pal- 
try dollars  in  the  way  of  speculation,  will  sell  out 
all  their  social  advantages,  and  roam  around  like 
gypsies. 

You  never  saw  or  heard  of  a  reformed  gypsy. 
He  has  no  permanent  environment.  And  the  same 
thing  may  be  said  of  the  tramp.  And  the  reason 
why  he  is  a  tramp  is  because  a  cruel  fate  has,  one  by 
one,  taken  the  social  props  from  under  him  ;  and  as 
he  has  lost  the  respect  of  all  about  him,  he  ceases  to 
have  any  respect  for  himself,  and  becomes  a  traveling 
vagabond.  He  has  neither  internal  relations,  ex- 
ternal relations,  nor  any  other  sort  of  relations.  He 
has  no  social  environment.  He  is  simply  lying 
around  loose.  As  he  despises  himself,  he  hates  every 
other  human  being,  and  becomes  a  public  enemy. 
There  is  no  hope  of  reforming  him  until  you  locate 
him  and  surround  him  with  neighbors  who  will,  by 
their  kindness,  wake  up  whatever  of  manhood  may 
be  left  in  him,  and  create  a  desire  within  him  to  re- 
enter social  life.  The  neighbors  owe  that  to  him, 
because  the  artificial  distinctions  of  wealth  and  birth 
may  have  elbowed  him  out  of  society,  and  compelled 
him  to  be  a  tramp. 

I  heard  a  dude  say  the  other  day,  in  speaking  of 
a  town  in  Tennessee,  that  he  would  not  live  in  that 
place,  because  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  town  that 
had  a  pedigree. 

To  obtain  the  full  measure  of  benefit  of  the  re- 
formatory force  of  social  life,  we  must  be  on  the  best 


160  Our  Neighbors. 

po.s.sible  terms  with  our  ueighbors.  To  get  around 
all  the  angles  and  sharp  corners  of  neighborhood  life, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  straight  and  reasonably  con- 
sistent ourselves  and  secure  some  point  of  contact 
with  all  of  them,  requires  the  best  quality  of  tact 
and  the  highest  kind  of  genius.  It  is  educational. 
To  succeed,  ^idll  keep  our  wits  bright  and  shining 
from  constant  use.  And  the  reason  why  some  people 
are  so  dull,  and  friendless  too,  is  because  they  make 
no  effort  to  have  a  little  stock  in  everybody.  They 
only  invest  in  a  few  dullards,  like  themselves,  and 
consequently  they  become  more  and  more  stupid,  and 
are  constantly  depreciating.  The  bright  people  are 
those  who  have  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  all,  and  in  whom  everybody  else  has 
some  stock.  Such  people  grow  brighter  continu- 
ally. Score  another  credit  to  the  account  of  the 
neighbors ! 

Your  neighbors  may  not  vote  as  you  do.  You 
may  even  be  in  the  minority.  You  may  be  sur- 
rounded with  Democrats,  Republicans,  and,  here  and 
there,  a  Greenbacker  and  Prohibitionist.  You  will 
have  to  manage  your  politics  so  as  to  hold  their  re- 
spect and  esteem. 

On  the  Sabbath,  a  day  of  rest  and  peace,  you  are 
hardly  out  of  your  front-gate,  going  to  Church,  until 
you  meet  your  next-door  neighbor  going  right  the 
other  way  to  his  Church ;  and  if  you  are  not  both  on 
your  guard,  you  will  find  yourselves  mutually  pitying 
each  other's  spiritual  blindness. 

All  around  you  are  as  many  different  views  and 
opinions  on  politics,  religion,  and  social  relations  gen- 


Our  Neighbors.  161 

erally,  as  there  are  different  colors  of  glass  in  the 
kaleidoscope.  Yon  are  simply  one  of  the  small  pieces 
of  glass,  and,  when  the  instrument  is  shaken,  you 
must  take  your  place,  and  shine  as  best  you  can,  and 
help  make  up  the  picture.  The  circumstance  that 
shakes  the  pieces,  and  puts  you  in  a  snug  fortune  or 
fat  office,  and  your  neighbor  in  bankruptcy,  or  vice 
versa,  complicates  the  case,  and  brings  in  envy  and 
jealousy  to  disturb  the  harmony,  and  calls  for  more 
tact  and  skill  to  keep  the  peace. 

Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  "  Sociology,"  applies  the 
principles  of  evolution  to  social  life.  He  says :  "  In 
conformity  to  the  law  of  evolution,  every  aggregate 
tends  to  integrate,  and  to  differentiate  while  it  inte- 
grates." This  complicates  the  case,  and  makes  it 
more  difficult  to  get  on  with  your  neighbors.  They 
will  sit  in  judgment,  not  only  on  your  politics  and 
religion,  but  on  your  habits,  your  solid  food  and  your 
liquids,  on  your  dress  and  address,  on  your  relatives — 
including  your  mother-in-law — on  the  kind  of  folks 
that  come  to  see  you  and  the  sort  of  people  you  go 
to  see,  on  your  prosperity  and  your  adversity,  and  on 
your  successes  and  your  failures. 

Now,  you  must  have  the  prejudice  of  this  court  in 
your  favor.  If  your  integrations  and  differentiations 
are  all  right,  you  can  have  it.  If  you  have  been 
loaning  out  a  large  amount  of  charity  when  charity 
was  most  needed,  it  will  be  paid  back  with  interest. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  there  is  a  fearful 
shortage  of  charity  in  all  neighborhoods.  So  many 
people  seem  to  be  just  out  at  the  time  it  is  most 
needed. 

11 


162  OrR  Neighbors. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  each  of  us  not  only 
inherits  different  opinions,  but  it  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  in  the  formative  period  of  our  lives  there 
was  a  different  atmosphere  surrounding  each  of  us. 
To  be  more  explicit,  the  governor  or  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, as  the  case  may  be,  of  the  family  may  be  a 
doctor.  He  smells  of  camphor,  and,  in  speaking  oi 
the  ordinary  ills  of  life,  uses  words  several  sizes  larger 
than  the  neighbors  use.  This  may  put  the  whole 
family  on  stilts.  Herbert  Spencer's  father  may  have 
been  a  physician. 

In  another  case  the  governor  or  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of  the  family  may  be  a  lawyer,  and  in  attempt- 
ing to  manage  his  household,  to  carry  his  point,  he 
may  introduce  his  court-house  methods,  by  trying  to 
suppress  the  truth  that  is  against  him,  and  to  mag- 
nify the  smallest  circumstance  that  seems  to  be  in 
his  favor.  He  will  succeed  better  with  the  jury  than 
the  family.  The  latter  know  him  better ;  but  the 
effect  on  the  limbs  of  the  law  in  that  family  may  be 
towards  crookedness.  It  is  said  to  be  an  absolute  fact 
that  most  of  our  politicians  are  lawyers  or  the  sons  of 
lawyers. 

The  president  or  vice-president  of  the  family  may 
be  a  minister.  His  sedentary  life  produces  indiges- 
tion, and  he  becomes  morose.  He  hates  the  world, 
and  declaims  vehemently  against  its  vanities.  He 
may  never  see  it  himself,  but  his  family  discover 
that  he  has  mistaken  a  torpid  liver  for  a  quickened 
conscience,  and  that  may  give  the  wrong  trend  to  their 
spiritual  nature. 

The  first  or  second  in  command  may  be  a  farmer. 


Our  Neighbors.  163? 

The  weather  seems  to  be  at  constant  war  with  hisr 
business,  and  he  spends  a  large  portion  of  his  time 
and  breath  in  contest  with  the  inevitable.  As  he  is 
always  beaten  fighting  the  weather,  all  his  boys  want 
to  be  something  else  than  farmers.  They  become  so 
soured  with  their  home-life  that  in  their  desperation 
they  become  book  agents,  or  worry  humanity  with 
sewing-machines  or  life  insurance  or  office-hunting. 
Some  drift  down  into  the  Legislature,  rather  than  re- 
peat the  life  of  a  farmer.  And  the  daughters  of  the 
family  will  elope  with  the  vender  of  a  patent  medi- 
cine, and  take  the  chances  on  the  number  of  wives 
he  may  have  elsewhere,  rather  than  marry  the  honest 
son  of  a  neighboring  widow,  whose  circumstances 
compel  him  to  till  the  soil. 

The  mechanic  in  the  factory  may  be  on  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  a  Trades  Union.  His  family  hear 
constantly  of  strikes,  and  know  about  starvation,  and 
they  enter  into  life  with  more  acid  than  sweetness  in 
their  composition. 

All  these  and  many  other  mitigating  circumstances 
can  be  pleaded  in  defense,  when  a  neighbor  is  charged 
with  having  peculiar  and  disagreeable  traits.  If  every 
neighbor  in  this  community  will  diligently  search  for 
tiie  things  that  will  palliate  the  faults  of  those  about 
him,  and,  when  found,  hold  them  up  to  view  instead 
of  the  faults  themselves,  it  will  not  only  produce 
great  social  felicity  hitherto  unknown,  but  a  boom  in 
real  estate  Avill  follow  that  has  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  place.  Everybody  that  knew  of  it 
would  want  to  live  here. 

Charles    Dickens,    in    "  Barnaby    Rudge,"    saj's: 


164  Our  Neighbors. 

"The  men  who  learn  endurance  are  they  Avho  call  the 
whole  world  Brother."  At  the  same  time  we  must 
not  forget  the  caution  that  Herbert  Spencer  gives  us; 
in  discussing  the  social  structure  he  says :  "  Beyond 
unlikeness  of  parts  resulting  from  development  of 
the  co-ordinate  agencies,  there  presently  follow  un- 
likenesses  among  the  agencies  co-ordinated."  This 
must  constantly  be  borne  in  mind,  or  we  get  things 
mixed. 

Perfect  candor  and  absolute  truth  are  essential  to 
good  neighborly  work.  They  are  the  integrating 
forces  of  our  social  life.  Falsehood  and  deceit  dis- 
integrate and  destroy.  Josh  Billings  is  right  when 
he  says:  *'It  is  better  not  to  know  so  much,  than  to 
know  so  many  things  that  are  not  so."  The  things 
that  are  "  not  so  "  create  the  disturbances  in  all  neigh- 
borhoods. Envy,  jealousy,  falsehoods,  and  uncharity, 
all  belong  to  the  "  not-so  "  brood.  If  some  effective 
system  of  vaccination  could  be  discovered,  it  would  be 
a  great  social  blessing. 

Water  was  so  reverenced  by  certain  ancient  na- 
tions that  they  would  never  desecrate  it  by  washing 
themselves  with  it.  Some  of  our  modern  people 
have  the  same  high  regard  for  the  truth.  They  will 
not  bring  it  into  general  use,  lest  they  may  soil  it. 
The  ancient  and  the  modern  both  seem  to  have  failed 
to  grasp  the  fact  that  the  more  they  used  these  essen- 
tials the  less  would  be  the  chances  of  soiling  them  ; 
and  the  water  and  the  truth,  having  no  affinity  for 
dirt,  when  left  to  themselves  have  within  themselves 
absolute  powers  of  self-purification.  We  need  not  be 
concerned  about  them ;    they  will  take  care  of  them- 


Our  Neighbors.  165 

selves.  A  liberal  application  of  both  will  very 
greatly  improve  the  social  health  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

And  then  there  was  never  such  a  thing  as  toler- 
ation until  our  higher  civilization  invented  neighbors 
:ind  neighborhood.  The  fires  of  persecution  must  be 
extinguished  by  the  neighbors.  The  very  essential 
feature  of  toleration  is  to  have  some  one  to  differ 
with  you,  and  then  endure  him  and  love  him. 

Let  us  suppose  that  before  the  war  South  Carolina 
and  Massachusetts  had  been  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood, and  jointly  borrowed  a  lunch-basket  and  gone 
on  a  picnic  occasionally,  then  Sumner  would  not  have 
assaulted  Butler  with  his  tongue,  nor  Brooks  as- 
saulted Sumner  with  his  cane,  with  all  the  unpleasant 
consequences  which  followed.  Or  if  the  Nortii  and 
South  had  not  been  so  far  apart  that  they  could  not, 
in  the  summer  evenings,  all  sit  dow^n  on  the  same 
doorstep  and  talk  over  the  interests  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  the  old  folks  thus  be  making  peace, 
while  the  young  folks  were  in  the  grape-arbor  mak- 
ing love,  we  would  have  had  no  war;  our  benevo- 
lent and  self-sacrificing  statesmen  would  not  now  be 
lying  awake  at  night  planning  a  pension  bill  five 
stories  high,  with  a  cellar  and  attic  and  a  mansard 
roof,  so  as  to  take  in  and  accommodate  all  sorts  of 
warriors. 

The  neighbors  form  public  opinion,  the  most 
powerful  despot  in  the  land.  The  bravest  tremble 
before  it,  and  the  courts  and  even  the  law  submit  to 
this  autocrat.  All  the  neighbors  who  do  much  think- 
ing have  two  opinions — one  for  the  public,  and  the 


166  Our  Neighbors. 

other  marked  confidential  and  private.  If  you  have 
treated  them  well,  and  in  a  whisper  given  them  your 
private  opinion,  you  can  in  the  same  way  obtain 
theirs  under  the  cover  and  seal  of  confidence.  Their 
private  opinion  is  the  best.  It  comes  nearer  the 
truth,  and  has  the  polish  of  tliought  and  reflection. 

The  contest  has  been  for  centuries,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be,  between  private  judgment  and  public 
opinion.  When  the  venerable  despot  sees  the  neigh- 
bors in  good  relations,  and  finds  them  whispering 
together,  he  trembles;  for  he  knows  the  truth  is  com- 
ing and  a  battle  is  to  be  fought — a  battle  of  conscience 
with  party,  a  battle  of  practical  religion  against  dog- 
matic theology.  Out  from  these  whispering  neigh- 
bors will  come  some  bold  spirit,  who  will  step  to 
the  front,  and  offer  his  fresh,  clean  truth  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  old  musty  error,  and  then  the  battle  is  on. 

Some  of  the  neighbors  will  stand  and  some  will 
retreat,  as  is  the  fact  in  all  battles;  and  whatever  may 
be  the  result  of  the  contest,  the  sequel  shows  that 
the  old  is  weaker  and  the  new  stronger,  and  on  the 
dial-plate  of  progress  it  is  recorded  that  an  advance 
has  been  made.  For  the  legitimate  results  are  the 
assassination  of  many  a  wicked  law,  the  overthrow 
of  many  a  blathering  demagogue,  the  destruction  of 
many  an  evil  that  curses  and  blasts  the  best  interests 
of  humanity.  It  has  ever  been  the  prime  object  ot' 
despotism,  by  a  system  of  espionage  or  some  other 
device,  to  prevent  this  sort  of  communication,  know- 
ing that  men  will  not  care  to  think  much,  if  they  can 
not  have  the  opportunity  to  tell  what  they  think. 

I  honestly  think  that  the  greatest  reformer  would 


Our  Neighbors.  167 

be  he  wlio  could  devise  a  plan  t<j  bring  the  ueigh- 
bors  ill  still  closer  relations — who  could  in  some  way 
stimulate  the  desire  to  think  and  increase  the  facil- 
ities for  telling. 

There  are  jjossibilities  far  beyond  what  we  have 
yet  attained,  growing  out  of  our  social  life.  If  the 
seeds  of  truth  that  we  gather  from  the  harvest-field 
of  life-exj^erience  could  be  scattered  through  the 
neighborhood  oftencr,  reaching  out  to  the  fence-cor- 
ners and  the  hedges,  they  would  spring  up  and  dis- 
place the  vulgar  weeds  of  ignorance,  avarice,  and 
slander,  that  are  hiding-places  for  the  vermin  that 
destroy  the  peace  and  liappiness  of  social  life.  It  is 
the  stagnant  pool  that  breeds  the  poison  and  sends 
forth  malaria.  It  is  the  babbling  brook  that  has  the 
clear  waters  in  which  is  life,  health,  and  purity. 
The  grandest  reformation  will  be  the  increase  of 
mutual  confidence  and  regard,  the  honest  and  full 
communion  of  heart  with  heart  on  all  the  many 
questions  that  interest  our  common  humanity. 

In  order  to  make  the  matter  perfectly  lucid  and 
understandable,  let  us  again  hear  Herbert  Spencer. 
In  considering  the  individual  man,  he  says:  "Always, 
too,  his  degree  of  intelligence  and  the  tendencies  of 
thought  peculiar  to  him  become  operating  causes  of 
social  quiescence  or  social  change."  He  also  takes 
the  position  that  drainage  of  the  soil  produces  great 
social  changes.  As  he  runs  the  subject  not  only  in 
but  under  the  ground,  I  decline  to  follow  him,  except 
to  remark  that  it  affects  the  demand  for  quinine  by 
draining  the  land. 

Mr.  Spencer  discusses  that  proposition  under  the 


168  Our  Neighbors. 

division  of  progressive  modificatious  of  the  environ- 
ment, inorganic  and  organic.  He  takes  the  tenable 
position  that  there  can  be  no  neighborhood  without 
neighbors.  He  says:  "It  is  clear  that  heterogeneity 
of  structure  is  made  possible  only  by  a  multiplication 
of  units.  There  can  be  no  differentiation  into  classes 
in  the  absence  of  numbers;"  and  I  hope  you  agree 
with  him.  I  am  positive  he  is  correct  in  this.  He 
adds  :  "  The  control  exercised  by  the  aggregate  over 
its  units  is  one  ever  tending  to  mold  their  activities 
and  sentiments  and  ideas  into  congruity  with  social 
requirements;  and  these  activities,  sentiments,  and 
ideas,  in  so  far  as  they  are  changed  by  changing  cir- 
cumstances, tend  to  remold  society  into  congruity 
with  themselves." 

If  you  doubt  this,  when  you  go  to  the  butcher 
for  a  beafsteak  in  the  morning,  ask  him  if  that 
is  not  the  fact ;  stop  at  the  post-office  and  consult  the 
postmaster;  refer  the  case  to  the  justice  of  the  peace 
or  the  notary  public  in  your  neighborhood, — and  with 
united  voice  they  "will  tell  you  that  they  have  noticed 
this  many  a  time.  They  will  say  Spencer  is  right 
when  he  says,  "  They  form  together  an  immensely 
voluminous,  immensely  complicated,  and  immensely 
powerful  set  of  influences." 

We  talk  about  the  good  common  sense  of  the 
people,  the  final  court  that  determines  all  questions 
under  our  form  of  government.  Whence  comes  this 
keen  sense  of  justice,  this  good,  square  conception  of 
fair  play?  It  comes  largely  from  the  education  we 
daily  give  each  other  on  the  highways  and  byways 
of  our  life's  work.     A  few  neighbors  gather  around 


Our  Neighbors.  169 

a  question  of  general  interest,  each  with  a  diiferently 
constituted  mind,  but  all  anxious  to  reach  a  right 
conclusion,  look  at  it,  discuss  it,  weigh  it,  and  finally 
reach  as  near  the  truth  as  human  reason  is  capable  of 
doing.  It  was  this  wisdom  that  saved  the  life  of  the 
Nation  during  the  Civil  War,  and  saved  the  honor  of 
the  Nation  when  her  debt  was  sweeping  thousands 
into  the  maelstrom  of  bankruptcy. 

There  is  too  much  strait-jacket  in  our  neigh- 
borhood life.  There  are  rings  and  cliques  and  other 
artificial  distinctions,  that  keep  men  apart  when  they 
ought  to  be  together.  Everybody  not  absolutely 
lawless  and  vicious  ought  to  have  all  the  advantages 
of  neighborhood  life,  so  that  if  one  neighbor  makes 
a  new  discovery,  or  overtakes  a  new  fact,  or  hears  a 
new  story,  all  can  have  a  chance  at  it.  These  little 
political  rings  and  cliques  that  divide  the  neighbors 
are  an  unmitigated  nuisance.  They  sow  ill  broadcast 
in  the  community,  which  yields  an  abundant  harvest 
of  gossip  and  jealousy.  They  poison  the  social 
fountain  and  create  distrust  where  there  ought  to  be 
confidence. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  neighbors  have 
their  hobbies  and  their  crotchets.  Some  of  them 
carry  it  so  far  as  to  be  cranks.  And  even  you  may 
be  a  little  cranky  yourself.  Some  pet  notion  may 
have  taken  possession  of  your  brain  and  crowded  all 
others  out ;  and  you  may  be  engaged,  more  than  you 
think  or  would  be  willing  to  confess,  in  trying  the 
fruitless  task  of  bringing  all  your  neighbors'  brains  to 
the  same  disordered  condition.  And  while  the  other 
cranks    ot    the    neighborhood    are    making   the   same 


170  Our  Neighbors. 

cflfurt  with  you,  the  result  is  a  eonfliet  of  cranks,  out 
of  which  can  come  nothing  but  folly. 

Ill  order  to  accomplish  social  reform,  every  man 
should  look  himself  squarely  in  the  face,  and  peer  down 
into  the  mazes  of  his  own  mental  machinery,  and  ask 
himself  if  he  is  a  crank,  and  demand  an  honest 
answer.  We  become  so  infatuated  with  our  hobby 
that  Ave  lose  the  power  of  honest  self-examination,  and 
become  oue-idead,  narrow,  and  intolerant.  As  well 
live  in  a  lunatic  asylum  at  once  as  to  be  compelled  to 
live  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  unconscious  cranks 
running  at  large.  You  are  never  safe  from  them. 
You  are  powerless  in  their  hands.  You  may  make 
as  many  wry  faces  as  you  can,  yet  the  crank  will 
compel  you  to  swallow  some  of  his  hobbies,  even  if 
he  knows  you  will  throw  theiii  up  the  next  minute. 

A  crank  or  two  can  almost  ruin  the  peace  of  a 
whole  neighborhood.  We  had  better  all  see  to  it 
that  we  ourselves  are  not  one  of  them.  You  remem- 
ber that  man  that  Sydney  Smith  tells  about  who  was 
a  crank  on  the  subject  of  the  north  pole.  No  matter 
in  what  place  or  presence,  he  would  bring  forward 
for  the  consideration  of  the  company  the  north  pole. 
A  lit<?rary  friend  of  his  once  lost  his  temper  and 
told  him  to  go  to  the  devil  Avith  his  north  pole. 
The  aggrieved  crank  complained  to  Sydney  Smith  of 
the  treatment  he  had  received  from  his  friend,  when 
Smith  told  him  to  never  mind  him,  for  he  himself 
had  heard  the  same  man  speak  disrespectfully  of  the 
equator. 

Every  neighborhood  has  a  poet,  a  statesman,  a 
literary    critic,  and   a    reformer.     All   of  these   have 


Our  Neighbors.  171 

views.  Tlicy  uot  uufreqiieutly  go  to  the  great 
length  of  putting  their  views  on  paper.  Their  prose 
and  poetry  may  be  valuable,  or  it  may  not.  But 
when  their  views  assume  the  very  definite  form  of 
being  harnessed  up  in  words  and  hitehed  together  in 
sentences,  the  temptation  to  show  them  to  the  neigh- 
bors is  very  strong.  If  they  are  exhibited  in  a 
general  way  in  the  columns  of  the  newspapers,  you  may 
be  able  to  get  along  with  your  neighbor's  views  easy 
enough.  You  can  read  enough  to  get  the  trend 
of  his  thought,  so  as  to  commend  his  sentiments 
when  he  speaks  to  you  about  it.  But  when,  unin- 
vited, he  invades  your  domicile,  armed  with  his  man- 
uscript, you  will  have  to  call  out  all  your  reserve 
force  of  grace  and  patience,  or  you  Mall  be  rude. 

The  neighbors  have  bores,  as  well  as  cranks,  to 
contend  with.  Unfortunately  there  are  no  criminal 
statutes  against  the  bore's  cruelty.  Other  felons  are 
fined  and  sent  to  prison  for  the  protection  of  society, 
but  the  bore  lives  on  and  on,  and  thunders  his  views 
in  the  dull  ears  of  old  age. 

There  js  another  neighbor  who  will  try  your 
patience.  He  is  a  good,  honest  fellow.  In  fact,  he 
is  a  little  too  honest  when  you  sum  up  his  whole 
organization.  He  will  kindly  tell  you  each  year  that 
you  are  looking  older,  and  that  he  can  plainly  see 
that  you  are  failing.  Yet  all  the  while  you  will  be 
in  the  sunshine  of  his  smile,  and  he  will  try  to  be 
as  sweet  as  a  rose.  But  every  rose  has  its  thorn, 
and  in  his  case  there  seems  to  be  more  thorn  than 
rose.  He  unconsciously  rides  rough-shod  over  all 
your  tender  sensibilities,  and  while  vou  know  he  has 


172  Our  Neighbors. 

no  evil  intent,  you  feel  so  sore  after  an  hour's  iuter- 
view  with  liim,  that  you  heartily  wish  he  would  go 
West  and  grow  up  with  the  country.  In  fact,  you 
send  him  a  glowing  description  of  Dakota  that  the 
owner  of  some  town  site  has  sent  you,  and  hint  to 
him  that  it  is  a  rich  country,  with  a  healthy  climate. 
You  may  even  offer  to  assist  him  in  getting  cheap 
transportation,  and  also  in  finding  a  purchaser  for  his 
neighboring  house  and  lot. 

The  general  and  rapid  diffusion  of  the  knowledge 
of  our  private  affairs  among  the  neighbors  may  not 
be  the  most  agreeable  thing  to  us,  and  we  are  not 
able  to  see  how  tliey  found  us  out.  As  a  general 
thing,  we  give  it  away,  unconsciously,  ourselves. 
Dickens's  theory  is  that  the  milkman  gets  it  in  his 
milk-can,  and  ladles  it  out  to  all  the  neighbors.  But 
he  was  an  Englishman,  and  knew  but  little  or  noth- 
ing of  the  sterling  integrity  of  the  American  milk- 
man. We  all  know,  and  stand  ready  to  certify,  that 
he  is  so  honest  that  he  will  allow  nothing  but  water 
put  iu  his  milk.  He  does  that  with  the  benevolent 
intention  to  reach  more  families.  Too  often  there 
would  not  be  milk  enough  to  go  round  but  for  this 
wise  forethought. 

But  no  matter  how  our  success  and  defeats  come 
to  be  known  to  the  neighbors,  the  very  fact  restrains 
and  regulates  our  lives  more  than  we  would  be  will- 
ing to  admit.  But  for  this  neighborly  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses there  is  no  telling  how  many  blunders  and 
indiscretions  might  befall  us. 

The  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation  in  natural 
life  is  exploded.     There   can    none  be  found  among 


Our  Neighbors.  173 

the  most  skeptical  scientists  bold  euough  to  advocate 
it.  This  false  theory  never  did  have  any  supporters 
in  our  social  life.  Life  comes  from  life  everywhere. 
Therefore  reciprocal  duties  and  obligations  grow  out 
of  our  social  relations. 

As  we  are  constantly  drawing  checks,  we  must 
make  a  corresponding  amount  of  deposits,  or  the 
bank  will  fail.  None  should  ever  overdraw  his  ac- 
count. The  social  bank  ought  not  to  be  required  to 
carry  any  bankrupts.  And  yet  we  often  find  a 
neighbor  who  acts  as  if  the  social  bank  has  unlimited 
deposits,  that  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation 
is  true,  and  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  draw  checks  and 
to  complain  that  the  bank  does  not  pay  larger  divi- 
dends. 

In  this  social  bank,  real  hearty  good- will  is  a 
good  collateral,  genuine  sympathy  is  a  first-rate  bond, 
and  charity  for  all  is  a  splendid  security.  With 
these  as  a  basis  there  may  be  a  constant  run  on  the 
bank,  and  it  will  stand  the  racket.  There  will  be 
no  panic  among  the  stockholders.  The  currency  will 
be  above  par  all  the  time,  because  the  deposits 
will  exceed  the  drafts,  and  the  issues  of  the  bank 
will  be  constantly  improving.  Every  new  truth, 
the  very  latest  style  of  everything,  the  last  story  and 
the  new  song  that  any  of  the  neighbors  have  cap- 
tured elsewhere  and  deposited,  will  be  issued  to  us 
all,  as  fresh  and  crisp  as  a  new  greenback  and  a 
great  deal  more  valuable.  We  will  have  large  divi- 
dends of  social  and  mental  culture,  of  liberal  hospi- 
tality, and  of  generous  trust  and  confidence.  All  the 
earnings  of  the  bank  can  be  divided  with  the  stock- 


174  Our  Neighbors. 

holders.  There  need  be  no  surplus  fund  set  aside 
for  the  benefit  of  the  corporation. 

Society  exists  for  the  benefit  of  its  members,  and 
not  its  members  for  the  benefit  of  society.  We  and 
our  neighbors  make  that  society  what  it  is.  Na- 
tional life  and  strength — civilization — is  but  the  ag- 
gregation of  neighborhoods.  The  cast  and  color  of 
that  civilization,  the  progressive  spirit  entering  into 
it,  and  the  stability  of  the  government  for  the  pro- 
tection of  every  citizen,  all  relate  back  to  the  indi- 
vidual character  of  each  member  of  society. 

The  value  and  brilliancy  of  the  diamond  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  purity  of  each  atom  composing  it. 
In  like  manner  the  individual  gives  character  to 
society  and  government,  and  each  right-minded 
member  is  a  lever  to  lift  up,  and  a  prop  to  hold  up, 
his  neighbor  to  a  full  comprehension  of  his  duty  and 
his  destiny.  Herbert  Spencer  puts  it  in  this  way: 
"  The  consensus  of  functions  becomes  closed  as  the 
evolution  advances." 

But  what  is  the  coming  neighbor  to  be  ?  Are  the 
rank  weeds  of  ignorance,  and  its  co-partner  intolerance, 
to  ever  grow  and  flourish  in  our  neighborhood  life  ? 
Are  the  better  forces  of  our  social  life  so  well 
equipped  and  so  strong  as  to  drive  out  the  vandal 
iiordes  that  only  pillage  and  plunder?  That  is  the 
question.  The  hopeful  optimist  takes  the  affirmative, 
while  the  despairing  pessimist  takes  the  negative,  and 
the  debate  goes  on;  but  as  ages  and  generations  come 
and  go,  History,  with  an  accuracy  that  is  certain  and 
sure,  reports  progress. 

If  you  take  a  level   and   apply  it    to  the  human 


Our  Neighbors.  175 

race  ri>r  the  last  five  centuries,  it  will  be  plainly  seen 
that  the  mental  and  moral  altitude  as  well  as  the 
social  excellence  of  the  man  of  to-day  is  double  that 
of  the  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  level.  And  the 
coming  neighbor  will  be  still  broader,  kinder,  and  in 
every  way  nobler. 

He  will  adopt  the  truthful  and  poetical  sentiment : 

"  Conscious  of  right  nor  fearing  wrong, 

Because  I  am  in  love  with  love, 
And  the  sole  thing  I  hate  is  hate ; 
For  hate  is  death,  and  love  is  life — 

A  peace,  a  splendor  from  ahove  ; 
And  hate  a  never  ending  strife, 

A  smoke,  a  blackness  from  the  abj'ss, 

"Where  unclean  serpents  coil  and  hiss. 
Love  is  the  Holy  Ghost  within ; 
Hate  the  unpardonable  sin: — 

Who  preaches  otherwise  than  this 

Betrays  his  Master  with  a  kiss." 


THE  REIGN  OF  KING  BOGUS. 

THE  reign  of  King  Bogus  began  as  soon  in  the 
history'  of  the  human  race  as  there  was  some- 
body to  cheat,  and  has  grown  in  strength  and  power 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  increase  in  the  population 
of  the  Avorkl  and  the  multiplied  opportunities  for  ex- 
ercising his  prerogative. 

Not  only  in  the  more  enlightened  portions  of  the 
ancient  nations  who  had  advanced  sufficiently  in  civ- 
ilization to  know  enough  to  construct  some  sort  of 
history  of  themselves,  but  also  among  the  barbarous 
tribes,  depending  entirely  on  tradition  to  throw  its 
light  on  the  past,  we  find  in  all  history  and  in  all  tra- 
dition distinct  and  clear  acknowledgment  of  this 
universal  monarch. 

The  painted  and  savage  barbarian,  who  was  learned 
in  nothing  except  war,  and  could  handle  no  implement 
but  the  war-club,  has  made  war  on  King  Bogus  only 
to  be  defeated.  The  monarchs  and  the  statesmen, 
the  sages  and  the  philosophers,  the  warriors  and  the 
diplomates,  the  reformers  and  the  theologians  of  the 
most  enlightened  nations,  have  tried  to  dethrone  him, 
but  have  failed. 

Away  back,  a  thousand  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  we  hear  Solomon,  the   wisest   and   greatest   mon- 


Delivered  on  the  invitation  of  the  High-school  of  Greens- 
burg,  Indiana,  at  the  chapel  of  the  public-school  building. 
176 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  Vll 

arch  of  his  time,  complaining  of  "  divers  weights  and 
measures,"  and  that  that  which  is  "crooked  can  not 
be  made  straight,"  and  finally,  in  despair,  crying  out : 
"Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity!"  King  Bogus  was 
too  powerful  even  for  him. 

Five  hundred  years  after,  Confucius,  the  mighty 
ruler  of  the  Chinese  mind,  of  whom  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  human  race  are  the  devoted  disciples 
to-day,  said :  "  I  hate  a  semblance  which  is  not  a 
reality.  I  hate  glib-tonguedness,  lest  it  be  confounded 
with  righteousness.  I  hate  sharpness  of  tongue,  lest 
it  be  confounded  with  sincerity." 

In  one  of  the  Suras  of  the  Koran,  we  find  Mo- 
hammed saying: 

"  By  the  declining  day,  I  swear 
Verily  man  is  in  the  way  to  ruin ; 
Except  such  as  possess  faith, 
And  do  the  things  which  be  right, 
And  stir  one  another  up  to  truth  and  steadfastness." 

We  learn  from  Herodotus  that,  many  thousand 
years  ago,  the  men  of  Egypt  shaved  their  heads,  and 
then  put  on  more  false  hair  than  our  modern  belles 
ever  dreamed  of.  Not  only  did  they  thus  adorn 
their  heads,  and  then  claim  it  as  the  natural  growth, 
but  they  also  wore  bogus  beards  of  immense  length 
and  breadth. 

In  the  old  Egyptian  Ritual  may  be  found  a  chap- 
ter which  describes  the  process  of  separating  a  person 
from  his  sins;  not  by  confession  and  repentance,  as 
is  usual  in  other  religions,  but  in  stoutly  denying 
them.  Among  other  things,  he  was  required,  in  ad- 
dressing the   Lord  of  Truths,  to  deny  specially  the 

12 


178  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

following:  ^' I  have  committed  no  fraud;  I  have 
not  told  falsehoods;  I  have  not  cheated  by  false 
weights;  I  have  not  counterfeited."  The  oldest  mon- 
uments in  Egypt  contain  kindred  inscriptions,  written 
so  long  ago  that  their  date  is  lost,  all  establishing  the 
fact  that  King  Bogus  is  chronologically  as  far  ahead 
of  Pharaoh  as  Pharaoh  is  ahead  of  the  governor  of 
Indiana. 

This  king  is  denounced  by  Zoroaster,  plainly 
mentioned  in  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  mani- 
festly seen  by  Ezekiel  in  his  vision,  has  proverbs 
hurled  at  him  by  Solomon,  and  is  portrayed  by  David 
in  his  words  of  warning  in  the  Psalms.  In  a  word, 
the  most  ancient  people,  in  their  mythology,  in  their 
sacrifices,  in  their  religious  customs  and  laws,  con- 
stantly recognize  the  ruler  of  mankind,  all  bearing 
the  strongest  testimony  that  his  power  was  to  be 
feared,  if  not  respected. 

Not  only  is  this  true  of  the  ancients,  but  as  we 
come  on  down  the  long  line  of  the  centuries  and 
ages,  the  evidence  accumulates,  and  as  we  emerge  into 
the  brighter  light  of  civilization  and  culture,  is  over- 
whelming. 

It  might  be  difficult  to  tell,  in  all  these  different 
periods  and  peoples,  what  have  been  the  different 
names  and  titles  of  the  monarch.  It  is  not  impor- 
tant. His  purpose  and  character  have  ever  been  the 
same,  and  his  followers  in  all  ages  have  not  been 
materially  different.  His  adherents  may  have  had, 
at  these  different  periods,  other  meUicds  for  reaching 
the  same  end;  but  from  the  time  whereof  the  mem- 
ory of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrq»'v.  the  piirpos<> 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  179 

of  King  Bogus  and  those  who  follow  him  has  been 
to  impose  the  spurious  on  nuinkiud  in  lieu  of  the 
genuine. 

His  present  title  of  "Bogus"  is  an  American 
name,  given  him  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  An 
Italian,  in  these  Western  States,  about  fifty  years  ago, 
being  a  devoted  follower  of  his  majesty,  put  in  circu- 
lation a  very  large  amount  of  bank-bills,  for  which 
there  was  really  no  existing  bank.  His  name  was 
Borghese.  The  swindle  was  so  extensive  and  so  art- 
fully accomplished  that,  when  the  discovery  was 
made,  those  bank-bills,  that  were  in  everybody's 
hands,  were  called  after  the  swindler,  which,  by  an 
easy  transition  and  for  the  sake  of  euphony,  were 
called  "  Bogus." 

The  genius  displayed  by  Borghese  in  concocting 
the  fraud,  and  the  talent  he  exhibited  in  executing 
it,  have  not  only  placed  his  name  in  the  larger  dic- 
tionary as  a  permanent  addition  to  our  language,  but 
he  is  immortalized  by  the  king  of  all  swindlers  taking 
his  name  as  a  special  compliment  to  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  and  unscrupulous  of  all  his 
subjects. 

It  is  believed  that  the  word  "  Bogus"  will  therefore 
find  its  way  into  every  language  of  the  earth,  and 
that  every  kindred,  tribe,  and  tongue  will  have  at 
last  the  one  word  in  common.  It  would  be  a  natural 
conclusion  that,  in  the  present  day  of  progress  and 
reform,  in  the  clear  light  of  the  boasted  civilization 
and  culture  of  the  nineteenth  century,  King  Bogus 
would  lose  his  poj>ularity  and  power,  and  that  his 
subjects,  from  very  shame,  would  not  dare  in  open  day 


180  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

to  march  under  his  banner  and  openly  confess  their 
allegiance  to  him. 

While  we  have  overthrown  many  a  moss-covered 
temple,  and  destroyed  the  last  vestige  of"  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  practiced  therein — let  the  light  into 
the  places  made  dark  by  superstition  and  ignorance — 
and  on  the  ruins  erected  structures  representing 
modern  thought  and  the  new  discoveries  that  have 
leaped  from  the  brains  of  a  nobler  and  more  culti- 
vated manhood,  yet  this  old  monarch  has  not  only 
all  his  old  tricks  and  devices,  but  in  addition  he  has 
kejjt  pace  with  the  progress  of  the  times  in  invent- 
ing numberless  shams  and  cheats  to  meet  the  new 
order  of  things.  He  is  without  a  peer  in  the  line  of 
invention  ;  his  trade-mark  may  be  seen  in  all  the 
merchandise,  and  his  methods  may  be  observed  in  all 
the  circles  and  transactions  of  human  life.  His  fol- 
lowers are  not  troubled  with  shame.  The  blushing 
is  not  done  by  the  disciples  of  Bogus.  They  are 
largely  in  the  majority.  The  shamefaced  are  the  old 
fashioned  fogies,  who  are  all  this  time  making  them- 
selves odd  and  singular  by  doing  the  square  thing 
with  everybody. 

Cash-Down,  with  his  threadbare  coat  and  un- 
fashionable wardrobe,  feels  like  apologizing  when 
thrown  in  the  society  of  Mr.  Credit,  with  his  unpaid- 
for  purple  and  fine  linen;  and  Mr.  Sincerity,  who  is 
so  stupid  and  out  of  style  as  to  persist  in  telling  the 
truth,  finds  that  his  society  is  not  in  demand  like 
that  of  Mr.  Flattery,  who  has  no  foolish  compunc- 
tions of  conscience  in  regard  to  the  truth  of  his 
statements. 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  181 

The  civilization  of  the  present  age  is  by  no  means 
a  foe  to  King  Bogus.  He  finds  it  helps  him  rather 
than  hinders.  His  power  and  influence  are  on  the 
increase,  and  unless  some  new  elements  are  introduced 
into  it,  or  some  of  the  present  elements  are  reorgan- 
ized and  put  on  a  war-footing  against  him,  he  has 
UDthing  to  fear.  He  w'ill  continue  in  the  future,  as 
m  the  past,  to  control  in  every  department  of  human 
thought  and  action.  While  we  laugh  at  the  credulity 
of  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages,  who  believed  that 
"  if  a  man  had  his  side  pierced  in  battle,  you  could 
cure  him  by  nursing  the  sword  that  inflicted  the 
wound,"  we  are  doing  the  same  thing  when  we  de- 
nounce the  shams  of  King  Bogus,  and  yet  practice 
them  all  the  time  ourselves,  while  we  deplore  the 
wound,  yet  tenderly  nurse  the  sword  that  inflicts  it. 

It  may  seem  like  uttering  a  paradox,  and  is  there- 
fore a  risky  assertion  to  make,  yet  its  truth  is  the 
best  apology  for  the  statement,  that  the  generality  of 
mankind  are  rather  fond  of  sham  and  humbug.  The 
evidence  of  this  fact  is  strong,  and  to  my  mind  con- 
clusive. King  Bogus  has  long  since  thrown  off  all 
disguise;  and  in  many  places  his  swindles  and  cheats 
are  palpable,  yet  they  seem  to  be  no  less  acceptable 
on  that  account.  The  public's  taste  has  been  so  long 
fed  on  the  counterfeit  and  spurious  that  it  seems 
actually  to  relish  it. 

The  empty  professions  of  regard  in  society,  the 
hollow  friendships  of  the  world,  the  insincere  decla- 
rations of  love,  notwithstanding  their  spurious  char- 
acter is  well  known  to  the  recipient,  seem  to  be  ac- 
cepted   with    pleasure;   and    they   go    to    make    up   a 


182  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

large  portion  of  what  the  human  race  calls  happi- 
ness, which  is  very  largely  increased  by  the  ability  to 
cheat  back  again,  by  a  bountiful  reciprocation  of  tiie 
same  unreal  material  which  meets  a  like  hearty  re- 
ception. In  what  is  called  the  "■  upper-ten "  of 
American  society — the  envied  ton  of  the  human  fam- 
ily, is  this  true.  King  Bogus  rules  there  without  a 
rival ;  and  the  more  perfect  his  system  of  cheats  and 
shams,  the  more  popular  is  he. 

The  demand  for  new  swindles  and  fresh  humbugs 
is  constant  and  persistent.  In  the  higher  regions  of 
what  is  called  the  first  circles,  society  compels  the  in- 
dividual members  to  attempt  to  cheat  the  whole  mass; 
and  although  the  sham  rarely  succeeds,  and  but  few 
are  cheated,  yet  the  regulations  require  it,  the  popular 
demand  for  it  will  take  no  denial,  and  a  good  footing 
in  the  higher  walks  can  not  be  ol)tained  without  it. 
To  be  more  specific,  the  physically  lean  and  thin 
members  of  the  aforesaid  Upper-Tendom  are  required 
to  supplement  their  leanness  by  padding  and  puffing, 
so  that  they  may  appear  plump;  to  bury  their  little 
bodies  in  an  ocean  of  dry-goods,  on  which  roll  huge 
billows  of  flounces  crested  with  ribbons  and  buttons, 
so  that  they  may,  at  least  in  appearance,  approximate 
the  regulation  size.  The  pale  faces  must  be  painted 
into  freshness  by  the  cosmetics  of  King  Bogus,  and 
the  gray  hairs  must  be  rejuvenated  M'ith  his  paints 
and  dyes. 

How  long  would  sincerely  honest  persons  hold 
])Osition  in  such  a  society — individuals  who  refuse  to 
indulge  in  any  sort  of  sham  ;  who  refuse  to  attempt 
to  cheat  in  conversation   or  dress;  who  never  simu- 


The  Reigm  of  King  Bogus.  183 

late  a  friend.sliip  tbey  do  not  feel ;  who  regard  all 
false  pretenses  with  proper  contempt;  who  are  con- 
stantly making  themselves  ridiculous  by  telling  the 
plain  truth  about  everything  and  everybody;  who 
have  the  moral  courage  to  look  as  old  as  they  really 
are,  and  have  the  honesty  to  confess  it?  Immense 
wealth  and  overshadowing  reputation  might  compel 
the  toleration  of  such  eccentricities ;  but  nothing 
else  would  prevent  a  prompt  dismissal  from  the  soci- 
ety of  the  fashionable. 

King  Bogus,  to  maintain  his  control,  goes  to  the 
fountain  of  power  and  influence  by  directing  public 
opinion.  Party  organizations  are  a  powerful  ally  to 
him  in  this  regard.  As  the  great  mass  of  men  are  in 
some  way  connected  with  these  organizations,  the  indi- 
vidual surrenders  his  right  of  opinion  to  that  of  the 
party,  and  it  makes  the  utterances  for  the  individual. 

The  world  is  cheated,  and  the  forward  march  of 
civilization  seriously  hindered,  by  this  potent  influ- 
ence preventing  mankind  from  speaking  out  what 
they  know  to  be  true.  The  very  best  thoughts  of 
men  have  to  be  rectified  through  a  mass  of  worn- 
out  platitudes,  traditions,  and  superstitions — have  to 
be  diluted  and  weakened  by  exploded  dogmas — be- 
fore they  are  offered  to  the  public.  They  have  to  be 
salted  with  that  very  indefinable  something  the  world 
calls  orthodoxy,  and  peppered  with  platforms  and 
creeds,  and  then  broiled  on  the  gridiron  of  precedent, 
over  the  red-hot  coals  of  public  opinion.  All  of  the 
freshness  and  sweetness  of  truth  is  roasted  out  of 
them  to  make  them  conform  to  the  venerable  decla- 
rations of  party  or  sect.     They  are  thus  made  unpal- 


184  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

atable  aud  imhealtiiy.  They  are  neither  digestible  nor 
nutritious. 

The  rich  new  wine  of  human  thought,  pressed 
from  the  brain  of  the  men  and  women  of  culture, 
ought  not  to  be  put  in  the  old  bottles.  King  Bogus 
liolds  mankind  to  this  error  by  the  false  pretense  of 
reverence  for  the  fathers.  This  is  a  most  grateful 
plea  to  those  who  are  too  lazy  to  think,  or  too 
craven  to  differ  with  their  party.  He,  with  a  bold 
and  unblushing  effrontery,  tells  men  that  they  must 
be  consistent;  that  the  organization  of  which  they 
are  members  has  proclaimed  a  certain  thing  as  true; 
and,  if  they  do  not  assent  to  it,  the  opposing  organi- 
zation will  use  them  as  weapons  of  attack;  aud,  to  be 
consistent,  they  must  suppress  all  private  judgment, 
and  go  with  the  party. 

This  state  of  things  is  demoralizing.  A  man  who 
will  profess  to  believe  what  he  does  not  believe,  aud 
who  claims  to  disbelieve  what  he  knows  to  be  true, 
will  soon  be  found,  in  all  the  practices  of  life,  as  crooked 
as  his  faith.  A  man  who  will  allow  manacles  to  be 
put  on  his  faith  will  soon  have  as  little  respect  for 
himself  as  the  criminal  with  nianacles  on  his  limbs. 
A  sham  faith  will  yield  the  certain  fruit  of  sham 
practice.  This  is  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses  of 
King  Bogus  to  command  the  allegiance  of  mankind. 

We  get  the  best  thoughts  of  men  in  a  whisper, 
under  the  seal  of  confidence.  When  they  appear  in 
public,  they  are  clad  in  the  full  panoply  of  party  or 
sect,  and  proclaim  the  truth  as  it  is  found  in  the  book 
of  creeds  and  platforms,  and  not  as  it  is  found  ia 
their  own  hearts.     By  this  means  King  Bogus  con- 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  185 

troLs  the  politics  of  the  world.  Parties  arc  orgauizcd 
and  platforms  promulgated,  not  to  lift  the  mass  of 
men  to  a  higher  and  better  life,  not  to  make  life  more 
tolerable  and  less  filled  with  burdens.  The  real  ob- 
jects of  parties  and  platforms  and  politicians,  in  the 
lower  sense  of  the  word,  are  to  secure  the  votes. 
To  do  this,  there  is  no  manly  courage  to  enlighten 
the  mind  of  the  voter,  and  attempt  to  reform  his  life 
and  remove  his  prejudices.  He  must  be  flattered  by 
confirming  him  in  all  his  false  notions,  and  thus  secure 
his  vote.  There  is  to  be  no  attack  on  the  conduct  of 
the  citizen.  Whatever  may  be  his  notion  of  vice  or 
chronic  laziness,  he  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  component 
part  of  the  honest  masses  that  we  hear  so  much 
about,  and  treated  accordingly.  No  truth  must  be 
told  him  that  is  offensive  to  him,  or  his  vote  might  be 
lost.  All  the  ills  that  afflict  the  body  politic  are  not 
to  be  remedied  by  the  individual  reformation  of  the 
citizen,  but  by  the  successful  application  of  party  ma- 
chinery. If  intemperance  is  filling  the  land  with 
paupers  and  tramps,  the  asylums  with  maniacs, 
and  the  jails  with  criminals,  burdening  the  people 
with  taxes, — remedies  looking  to  the  reformation  of 
the  citizen  and  the  punishment  of  the  evil-doers  are 
not  to  be  thought  of,  because  it  is  wrong  to  pass 
sumptuary  laws.  AVhat  a  sumptuary  law  is,  is  not 
well  understood  by  the  average  citizen ;  but  he  is 
made  to  understand,  if  in  no  other  way  but  the  pro- 
longed pronunciation  of  the  word  "sumptuai'y,"  that  it 
is  something  dreadful  ;  and  if  the  pronunciation  will 
not  silence  him,  he  is  told  that  such  laws  are  uncon- 
stitutional; that  they  violate  the  great  Magna  Charta 


186  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

of  humau  rights;  that  they  are  inconsistent  with  both 
the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  organic  act,  the  palla- 
dium of  our  rights.  The  citizen  sees  at  once  that 
further  resistance  is  hopeless;  and  King  Bogus  wins 
by  the  weapons  of  large  words,  when  all  others  fail. 

The  citizen  may  sit  all  day  on  the  shady  side  of 
the  village  store  and  complain  of  the  hard  times, 
while  labor  is  beckoning  him  with  one  hand  and 
holding  out  to  him  a  good  reward  with  the  other. 
The  bogus  politician  does  not  tell  him  to  obey  the 
call  and  go  to  work.  That  might  wound  the  sensi- 
tive spirit  of  the  citizen  and  voter,  and  drive  him 
over  to  the  other  party.  He  says  that  the  result  of 
the  troubles  of  the  citizen  is  the  legitimate  effect  of 
an  oppressive  tariff;  that  the  balance  of  trade  is 
against  us  and  is  in  favor  of  foreign  nations,  and  that 
in  consequence  capital  is  robbing  labor,  and  that  it 
is  the  fault  of  the  Government  that  the  citizen  is  not 
rich,  sitting  in  the  shade.  Imagine,  if  you  please,  this 
same  sovereign  and  voter  going  home  late  at  night 
from  the  caucus,  with  no  wages  in  his  pocket  to  make 
glad  the  hungry  household,  but  in  their  stead  en- 
deavoring to  comfort  the  starving  wife  and  naked 
children,  that  their  troubles  will  soon  be  over;  that 
Mr.  Blowhard  is  nominated  to  Congress,  and  if  he  is 
elected  he  will  reduce  the  taxes  and  regulate  the 
tariff,  and  then  plenty  will  flow  on  every  hand. 

By  misfortune  or  foolish  speculation,  the  citizen 
may  be  staggering  under  a  heavy  load  of  debt.  It 
might  not  be  agreeable  to  be  told  that  he  must 
reduce  his  expenses  and  live  so  far  within  his  in- 
come as  to  be  able  each  month  to  pay  something  on 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  187 

his  debt  and  thus  lighten  its  weight,  and  that  he 
must  keep  up  this  rigid  economy  until  it  is  all  paid. 
This  would  involve  a  self-denial — a  stepping  down 
several  degrees  in  the  style  of  his  living.  He  might 
lose  caste  in  the  fashionable  circles  in  which  he  moves ; 
it  might  give  him  a  threadbare  coat  and  a  done-over 
bonnet  for  his  wife,  and  last  year's  hats  for  the  girls 
and  boys,  and  no  trip  East  in  the  summer  for  the 
family.  This  might  be  a  very  unpalatable  prescrip- 
tion to  the  citizen.  He  might  refuse  to  take  it,  and 
become  offended  because  it  w^as  even  offered  him. 
He  is  therefore  told  by  the  bogus  finance  doctors 
that  the  Government  will  soon  issue  more  currency, 
and  then  the  tides  of  prosperity  will  flow  in  and  lift 
bim  and  his  stranded  Ijark  high  above  all  the  snaggy 
mortgages  and  bills  in  bank,  and  the  very  breezes 
from  the  mountain  of  greenbacks  will  send  him  on 
the  wide,  smooth  sea  of  financial  success  and  pros- 
perity. That  suits  him,  and  he  goes  on  spending  all 
his  income,  and  more  too,  expecting  the  Government 
in  some  way  to  pay  his  debts.  When  the  crash 
comes,  resulting  from  his  own  folly,  he  is  ready  to 
join  the  strike  or  the  commune,  or  anything  else 
that  promises  him  a  way  to  obtain  revenge  for  his 
failure. 

The  disruption  of  the  relations  between  capital 
and  labor,  and  the  senseless  contest  in  which  they  are 
engaged  in  attempting  to  destroy  each  other,  is  not 
the  result  so  much  of  the  machinations  of  King  Capi- 
ital  as  it  is  the  mischievous  trading  and  cunning  of 
King  Bogus. 

It    has    not    been    long    since   the    whole  Nation 


188  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

turned  pale  at  the  threats  of  the  tramp.  Not  that 
the  tramps  were  of  themselves  either  formidable  or 
dangerous.  "  It  is  conscience  that  makes  cowards  of 
us  all."  The  tramps,  it  was  feared,  were  but  the  ad- 
vancing skirmish-line  of  a  mighty  host  behind  them, 
who  had  taken  for  truth  what  was  only  intended  for 
political  buncombe  to  secure  party  triumph.  All  par- 
ties have  been  bidding  for  the  votes  of  the  laboring- 
man,  and,  in  doing  so,  they  have  gone  to  the  extreme 
of  telling  him  that  labor  is  something  to  be  avoided 
if  possible;  that  it  is  not  a  badge  of  honor;  that 
capital  is  conspiring  against  labor,  and  robbing  it; 
that  the  bread  that  can  only  be  won  by  toil  and  in- 
dustry may  be  had  by  legislation;  that  the  earnings 
of  one  were  the  property  of  all ;  that  the  Government 
was  nothing  but  organized  robbery  of  the  poor, — the 
good  old  rule,  "  By  the  sweat  of  your  brow  you  shall 
eat  your  bread,"  is  all  well  enough,  but  let  some  one 
else  do  the  sweating — a  sort  of  vicarious  perspira- 
tion. 

These  things  had  been  said  by  the  press  and  pol- 
iticians, and  repeated  and  reiterated,  until  the  guilty 
Nation  trembled  and  quaked  with  fear  lest  such  mon- 
strous and  wicked  falsehoods  were  actually  believed 
by  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed.  They  had 
"  sown  the  wind  ;"  the  slightest  breeze  made  them 
dread  the  "whirlwind."  If  King  Bogus  is  per- 
mitted to  continue  to  control  American  politics,  the 
whirlwind  will  come,  and  that  at  no  distant  day,  with 
fearful  power. 

We  must  dare  to  tell  the  people  the  truth ;  dare 
to  tell  them  that  the  Government  is  powerless  to  help 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  189 

or  hiudcr  them  in  the  road  to  prosperity;  dare  to 
tell  them  that  success  in  life  depends  ou  their  own 
skill,  their  own  industryj  their  own  energy  in  the 
chosen  work  of  their  lives;  dare  to  tell  them  that 
men  of  skill,  industry,  and  energy  are  in  demand 
everywhere  and  all  the  time  ;  that  these  qualities 
command  the  very  highest  compensation  ;  that  the 
Government  made  by  them  is  their  best  friend  and 
can  not  be  their  enemy ;  that  that  Government,  with 
her  strong  arm,  will  protect  their  rights;  that  her 
courts  stand  open  all  the  time  to  guard  their  persons, 
property,  and  reputation;  but  that  their  bread  they 
must  win  by  their  own  industry,  and  their  wealth  by 
the  practice  of  economy  ;  that  the  law  is  the  expres- 
sion of  the  will  of  the  people  for  the  protection  of 
the  rights  of  all,  and  its  rigid  enforcement  is  the  best 
guarantee  for  the  permanence  of  human  liberty,  the 
preservation  of  order,  and  the  perpetuation  of  peace 
and  prosperity. 

Let  us  have  for  public  guides  men  who  will 
speak  the  truth  and  do  justice  ;  men  who  wall  say 
what  they  believe  to  be  true,  whether  they  find  it  in 
tlie  platform  of  their  own  party  or  the  one  opposing; 
men  who  will  denounce  the  false  wherever  they  find 
it ;  men  who  are  better  patriots  than  partisans.  Let 
such  be  the  chosen  leaders,  and  let  the  bogus  states- 
man be  sent  to  the  rear. 

The  ambition  of  King  Bogus  is  boundless.  He 
does  not  confine  his  attempts  at  absolute  rule  to  fash- 
ionable society  and  to  politics,  but  he  even  seeks  to 
sway  his  scepter  in  the  Church.  To  accomplish  tliis 
he  has  a  large  number  of  his  most  brazen  and  cheeky 


190  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

followers  enroll  themselves  as  members,  who  at  once 
seek  the  highest  seat  in  the  synagogue,  and  take  the 
control  if  they  can.  From  their  professions  they  make 
the  impression  that  they  are  all  wool  and  fast  colors  ; 
but'  a  closer  inspection  of  their  practices  shows  them 
to  be  shoddy  that  won't  wash.  They  seem  to  labor 
under  the  delusion  that  they  can  pass  inspection  by 
making  the  loudest  and  most  persistent  profession  of 
their  religion — that  if  they  but  continue  to  insist  that 
they  are  genuine  and  stick  to  it,"  mankind  will  yield 
the  point  on  no  other  and  better  evidence  tluin 
their  own  repeated  assertions.  They  are  the  lineal 
descendants  of  the  same  class  that  King  Bogus  had 
some  two  thousand  years  ago  standing  on  the  corners 
of  the  streets,  making  long  prayers — who  loved  to  be 
called  "Rabbi"  in  the  market-places,  and  in  secret 
robbed  even  the  houses  of  the  widow. 

Every  age  since  then  has  produced  its  Pharisees,  so 
sharpened  and  improved  that  if  the  old  original  stock 
of  the  first  century  were  here,  they  would  go  out  of 
the  business.  We  can  beat  the  Jews  on  Pharisees. 
It  is  a  sight  too  ridiculous  and  absurd  for  any  adequate 
description  to  see  and  hear  one  of  these  modern 
Pharisees,  with  a  countenance  constructed  for  the  oc- 
casion— his  bogus  visor,  with  sanctimonious  phrase — - 
})rating  about  how  conscientious  he  is  and  how  sanc- 
tified he  has  become,  while  everybody  who  knows 
him  or  her  is  in  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the 
Pharisee  would  cheat  the  poor  and  rob  the  unsus- 
pecting ;  that  he  thinks  more  of  a  nickel  than  he 
does  of  his  own   soul,  the  Church,  or  his  God. 

These  brassy  Church-members   undertake   to  gal- 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  191 

vanize  therast'lves  with  assumed  holiness;  hut  the 
gilding  is  too  thiu  to  deceive  any  but  the  most  ig- 
norant. The  gilding  soon  wears  off,  and  the  brass  of 
the  old  Adam  is  seen  in  large  and  ugly  spots  all 
over  them.  When  they  assail  the  ears  of  honest  peo- 
ple with  their  hypocritical  cant,  there  is  one  word  in 
the  heart  of  all  who  hear  them,  and  one  word  on  the 
end  of  every  tongue  ready  to  be  spoken,  and  that 
word  is — Bogus. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  King  Bogus  never 
blushes,  that  he  has  no  sense  of  shame,  and  that  he 
really  glories  in  all  his  cheats  and  shams.  This  may 
be  true  as  to  all  his  other  cheats,  but  the  modern 
Pharisee  is  such  a  gorgeous  swindle,  such  a  cheat  on 
holy  ground,  that  neither  King  Bogus  nor  the  devil 
can  possibly  contemplate  his  work  without  a  sense 
of  mortification. 

Pollok   had   knowledge   of  this    bogus    Christian, 
and  I  can  not  refrain  from  giving  his  truthful  descrip- 
tion of  the  character.     He  says : 
"  He  was  a  man 
Who  stole  the  livery  of  the  court  of  heaven 
To  serve  the  devil  in  ;  in  virtxie's  guise 
Devoured  the  widow's  house  and  orphan's  bread  ; 
In  holy  phrase  transacted  villainies 
That  common  sinners  durst  not  meddle  with. 
At  sacred  feasts  he  sat  among  ttie  saints, 
And  with  his  guilty  hands  touched  holiest  things; 
And  none  of  sin  lamented  more,  or  sighed 
More  deeply ;  or  with  graver  countenance, 
Or  longer  prayer,  wept  o'er  the  dying  man 
Whose  infant  children  at  tlie  moment  he 
Planned  how  to  rob.     In  sermon  style  he  bought, 
And  sold,  and  lied ;  and  salutations  made 
In  Scripture  verse.     He  prayed  by  quantity, 


192  1  HE  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

And  with  his  repetitions  long  and  loud 

All  knees  were  weary.     Witii  one  hand  he  put 

A  penny  in  the  urn  of  poverty, 

And  with  the  other  took  a  shilling  out. 

On  charitable  lists — those  trumps  that  told 

The  public  ear  who  had  in  secret  done 

The  poor  a  1)enefit,  and  half  the  alms 

They  told  of,  took  themselves  to  keep  them  sounding — 

He  blazed  his  name,  more  proud  to  have  it  there 

Than  in  the  Book  of  Life.     Seest  thou  the  man  ? 

A  serpent  with  an  angel's  voice  ;  a  gx'ave 

With  flowers  bestrewed." 

Thus  King  Bogus  will  destroy  the  effectiveness  of 
one  Church  organization  by  placing  its  control  in  the 
hands  of  hypocrites;  another  is  crushed  by  his  insist- 
ing that  it  must  be  run  on  business  principles.  For 
this  purpose  he  has  his  followers  in  a  Church  who 
will  claim  that  it  is  a  sort  of  joint-stock  concern,  and 
that  it  might  almost  pay  cash  dividends  if  it  were 
only  managed,  as  they  say  in  slang  phrase,  by  "  Old 
Business."  If  they  meant  that  good  old  business 
principle  of  honesty,  paying  as  you  go,  and  prom- 
ising nothing  that  you  could  not  perform,  and  under- 
taking nothing  you  could  not  complete,  it  would  be 
well  enough.  But  they  mean  nothing  of  the  sort. 
They  mean  Bogus  Business. 

The  special  aversion  of  this  class  is  the  old  meeting- 
house. It  does  not  matter  so  much  that  the  old  house 
is  well  adapted  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  in- 
tended ;  that  it  is  as  good  as  the  members  can  afford. 
It  is  old  and  out  of  style,  and  that,  with  them,  is  suffi- 
cient objection.  To  the  sectarian  members  of  the 
Church,  they  will  argue  that,  our  Church  ought  to 
beat  all  the  other  denominations  in  a  church  edifice; 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  193 

to  the  pious  they  will  assume  a  religious  zeal  they  do 
not  really  feel  by  deplering  the  low  state  of  religion 
in  our  Church,  and  claim  that  it  is  the  result  of  the 
want  of  style  and  finish  in  the  meeting-house — that 
the  Lord  will  never  meet  with  and  bless  his  peoj^le  in 
such  a  place. 

Thus  they  will  worry,  and  bluster,  and  blow, 
until  the  old  house  is  torn  down,  and  the  congrega- 
tion is  driven  to  some  ])ublic  hall  for  worship.  The 
new  building  is  commenced  with  about  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  its  cost  pledged  for  its  payment.  During 
its  erection,  perhaps  twenty-five  per  cent  more  of  its 
cost  is  obtained  from  the  members,  and  the  remaining 
fifty  per  cent  is  borrowed  to  finish  the  temple.  It  has 
on  one  corner  a  fine  tower,  and  on  another  the 
tallest  and  most  beautiful  steeple  in  town,  towering 
above  and  coming  nearer  heaven  than  that  of  any 
other  denomination  in  the  place ;  it  has  a  spotted 
slate  roof,  and  beautiful  stone  trimmings.  In  the  in- 
side may  be  found  rich  frescoing,  costly  stucco-work, 
expensive  sittings,  shining  chandeliers,  stained  glass, 
and  a  most  magnificent  organ  of  wonderful  power 
and  compass.  All  this  is  visible,  and  challenges  ad- 
miration. The  invisible  thing,  that  is  the  ghost  in  the 
house,  is  the  immense  mortgage  covering  half  its  cost 
and  nearly  all  its  worth. 

At  the  appointed  time,  the  beautiful  structure  is 

solemnly    dedicated    to   God   for   his    own,  to   have 

and    to    hold,    subject    to    the     mortgage    aforesaid. 

Very    soon    in    the      history     of    the    Church     the 

preacher  is  put  on  half  rations,  and  all  charitable  and 

benevolent  work  ceases,  so  that  the  interest  on  the 

13 


194  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

mortgage  may  be  met.  Very  soou  this  is  not  suffi- 
cient, aud  the  creditor  takes  his  decree  at  the  court, 
and  tlie  sheriff  takes  the  church,  and  Bogus  has  com- 
pleted his  work. 

The  fact  that  Church  indebtedness  in  the  country 
is  counted  by  the  millions,  and  that  many  of  the 
Churches  are  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  furnishes 
fearful  and  startling  evidence  of  the  demoralization 
of  the  times.  If  Christian  Churches  will  not  live 
within  their  means,  if  they  sacrifice  their  honor  to 
gratify  tlieir  passion  for  style,  what  may  we  expect 
will  be  their  influence  on  others,  and  what  may  we 
ho]ie  for  of  corporations  aud  individuals  who  do  not 
claim  to  be  regulated  by  the  pure  morality  of  the 
Bible  ? 

The  first  step  toward  prosperity  in  this  country, 
and  the  best  remedy  for  the  ills  of  the  times,  is  to 
live  within  the  income,  pay  off  the  old  debts,  and 
contract  no  new  ones.  Let  the  Christians  and  Chris- 
tian Churches  take  the  lead  in  this  necessary  reform. 

Bogus  is  too  ambitious  to  remain  in  the  pew.  He 
often  ascends  the  pulpit,  and,  in  place  of  preaching 
practical  Christianity,  he  puts  on  his  war-paint  and 
assails  all  others  who  do  not  belong  to  aud  agree 
with  that  particular  Church.  Instead  of  proclaiming 
the  gospel  of  love  and  peace,  he  stirs  up  riot  and 
makes  war.  Instead  of  breathing  into  his  flock 
the  life-giving  truth  of  the  Bible,  he  poisons  and 
withers  their  souls  with  the  simoom  t)f  sectarian  big- 
otry. He  magnifies  sect  above  Christianity  and  dog- 
matic creeds  above  the  Bible.  He  reproducfis  the 
very  sort  of  people  tliat  Christ  found  engaged  iu  the 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  195 

mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  and  omitting  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith. 

The  Darwinian  theory  is,  that  by  a  slow  process 
of  development  and  evolution,  the  human  family  has 
come  from  monkeys.  King  Bogus  says  to  the  pulpit, 
you  must  attack  that  theory;  science  is  making  war 
on  religion,  and  you  must  defend  it.  The  members 
of  the  ministerial  profession  who  are  ambitious  to  be 
considered  stars  of  the  first  magnitude,  commence  to 
declaim  about  protoplasm,  evolution,  and  with  kin- 
dred high-sounding  words  essay  to  convince  their 
hearers  that  their  grandfathers  were  not  monkeys — a 
theory  they  never  did  believe,  and  never  will  believe. 
Human  pride  would  be  sufficient,  without  the  aid  of 
religion  or  anything  else,  to  prompt  the  rejection  of 
such  distasteful  nonsense.  The  certain  results  of 
this  sort  of  prating,  as  King  Bogus  well  knows,  is  to 
call  the  minds  of  the  hearers  from  the  practical  du- 
ties of  Christian  living,  such  as  paying  honest  debts  ; 
keeping  the  tongue  free  from  falsehood  and  slander; 
of  doing  to  others  as  you  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  you  ;  of  loving  God  with  all  the  heart  and 
the  neighbor  as  yourself. 

The  Church  members,  forgetting  all  these  things, 
soon  like  the  preacher  perched  on  the  highest  branches 
of  speculation,  chattering  his  scientific  gibberish. 
Spiritually  they  not  only  confirm  the  theory  of  Dar- 
win, that  their  grandfathers  were  monkeys,  but  they 
all  corroborate  his  notion  that  the  evolution  is  so  slow 
that  the  changes  are  scarcely  perceptible  in  three  gen- 
erations. 

Athenagoras,  the  Greek  philosopher,  was  annoyed 


196  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

at  his  home  at  Athens,  by  a  ghost  who  came  nightly 
to  his  study  and  rattled  a  chain  with  great  violence. 
It  turned  out,  so  the  history  says,  after  a  full  investi- 
gation that  the  ghost  was  the  spirit  of  a  man  who  had 
been  murdered  on  the  premises,  and  had  not  had  the 
customary  burial.  The  bones  were  carefully  taken 
up  and  buried  with  all  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of 
the  times,  and  the  ghost  was  satisfied,  and  departed,  and 
never  more  troubled  the  philosopher.  If  this  Dar- 
winian theory  is  but  quietly  laid  away  in  the  sepulcher 
of  forgetfulncss,  the  monkeys  will  cease  to  annoy  the 
pews  and  the  pulpit,  and  science  and  religion  will 
continue  in  all  the  future  to  be  the  very  best  of 
friends — a  friendship  which  will  grow  and  strengthen 
as  they  become  better  acquainted. 

The  politics  and  religion  of  a  people  like  ours, 
under  a  Government  with  such  large  toleration,  give 
caste  and  color  to  our  civilization.  If  Bogus  can 
exert  a  controlling  influence  in  these,  the  management 
of  mankind  elsewhere  is  easy.  If  he  could  be  driven 
out  of  politics  and  religion,  it  would  be  easy  enough 
to  dislodge  him  from  society  at  large.  If  in  these, 
anything  less  than  the  genuine  is  tolerated,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  in  society  and  in  trade  the  spurious 
will  win.  If  political  shams  and  religious  humbugs 
were  not  countenanced,  and  mankind  would  accept 
nothing  but  the  genuine  here,  the  shoddy  in  the  so- 
cial circles  and  the  spurious  in  merchandise  would 
quickly  disappear.  People  who  will  consent  to  ac- 
cept the  vaporings  of  the  demagogue  for  statesman- 
ship will  be  found  purchasing  coffee  adulterated  with 
chickory;  and   those  who  give  ear  and   faith  to  hyp- 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  197 

ocrites  in  the  Churches  will  orDameiit  themselves 
with  pinchbeck  jewelry ;  and  all  who  accept  and  pro- 
fess a  frieudshij)  that  they  know  to  be  hollow  will  be 
found  glittering  in  paste  diamonds  and  drinking  wine 
labeled  foreign,  but  in  fact  made  in  this  country 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  King  Bogus,  of 
the  most  villainous  drugs  and  compounds  that  he  has 
in  his  dispensary. 

When  these  great  fountains  of  influence  are  so 
contaminated  with  the  spurious,  it  is  not  strange  that 
flowing  from  it  are  numberless  infecting  streams, 
poisoning  society  in  all  its  relations.  Even  the  plain 
old  Anglo-Saxon  language  has  almost  lost  its  mean- 
ing, and  is  too  rapidly  becoming  a  senseless  jargon. 

Somebody  once  said  :  "  If  we  can  not  alter  things, 
we  can  change  their  names."  In  this  work  King 
Bogus  is  an  expert.  Not  long  since  an  old  steamboat 
was  purchased  to  run  from  Chicago  to  Milwaukee. 
She  was  carefully  repainted  to  make  her  appear  new, 
and  to  make  her  seem  strong  she  was  named  "  The 
Ironsides."  A  credulous  public,  captured  by  the  new 
paint  and  strong  name  painted  in  large  letters  on 
the  larboard  and  starboard  and  on  the  streamer 
above,  not  only  had  faith  in  her  speed,  but  in  her 
strength  as  well.  They  not  only  committed  their 
property  but  their  bodies  to  "  The  Ironsides."  On 
the  first  trip  her  rotten  timbers  parted,  and  sent  cargo 
and  passengers  to  the  bottom  of  Lake  Michigan. 

There  was  recently  a  worthless  Life  Insurance 
Company  in  Xew  York.  It  had  neither  capital  in 
the  treasury  nor  honesty  in  the  management.  To  pop- 
ularize the  sham  it  Mas  named  "  The  Securitv."     The 


198  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

name  took  in  the  crcdalons,  and  they  came  forward 
with  their  money.  They  innocently  snpposed  that  the 
payment  of  the  premium  insured  their  lives;  but  it 
soon  transpired  that  it  only  insured  a  few  rascals  a 
fast  life  for  a  few  years.  It  also  insured  the  arrest, 
trial,  and  conviction,  of  the  president  of  the  com- 
pany. He  is  now  in  the  penitentiary,  and  the  word 
"  Security"  begins  to  have,  to  him,  its  old  and  real 
meaning. 

I  saw  in  the  newspapers  that  the  "  Fidelity " 
Savings  Bank  had  failed  and  could  not  pay  one  cent 
on  the  dollar.  The  Fidelity  of  that  bank  consisted 
in  the  faithful  manner  with  which  the  officers  embez- 
zled the  funds,  and  the  said  savings  bank  only  saved 
the  dupes  who  deposited  their  money  any  further 
sight  of  it. 

It  is  a  reasonably  safe  rule  when  you  see  an 
article  of  merchandise  advertised  as  the  "  Peerless," 
or  a  machine  called  the  "Matchless,"  to  conclude 
that  there  is  a  big  cheat  concealed  beneath  these 
high-sounding  words.  When  you  see  a  nostrum  that 
claims  to  cure  everything,  you  may  be  sure  it  will 
cure  nothing;  and  when  you  hear  people  who  are 
constantly  sounding  a  trumpet,  proclaiming  their  own 
perfection,  they  will  bear  watching. 

A  good  thing  will  go  right  along  on  its  merits, 
without  the  aid  of  a  high-sounding  name  to  push  it. 
So  human  life  is  estimated  by  the  good  practices, 
rather  than  the  loud  professions.  King  Bogus  under- 
takes to  supply  the  lack  of  merit  by  swindle  in  the 
name,  and  to  cover  the  bad  practices  in  life  by  the 
most  specious  professions. 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  109 

On  every  hand  we  meet  with  people  who  are 
"  tired  to  death,"  "  froze  to  death,"  ''  tickled  to  death," 
and  almost  everything  "  to  death."  It  is  a  daily  oc- 
currence among  older  people,  as  well  as  school-girls, 
to  say  that  "they  thought  they  would  die"  from  some 
small  circumstance  producing  the  slightest  mirth  or 
the  least  possible  fright.  Something  that  is  not  ex- 
actly agreeable,  nowadays,  is  declared  to  be  "per- 
fectly awful,"  or  "monstrous,"  or  "horrid."  Any- 
thing that  ])leases,  however  small  the  pleasure,  is 
declared  to  be  "so  sweet,"  "perfectly  splendid," 
"grand,"  and  "gorgeous."  The  most  expensive  ad- 
jectives are  piled  on  without  regard  to  their  value. 
In  this  bogus  jargon,  so  common  in  all  the  walks  of 
life,  words  have  hxst  their  meaning ;  and,  if  this  sen- 
timental style  of  conversation  continues  to  increase 
in  its  extravagance  and  stiltiness,  it  will  not  be  long 
until  talking  plain  common  sense  will  be  counted 
among  the  lost  arts. 

If  you  were  to  ask  me  why  the  mere  semblance 
of  a  thing,  known  to  be  such,  is  accepted  in  lieu  of 
the  genuine — what  is  the  philosophy  of  the  popularity 
of  Bogus — I  should  promptly  answer  that  I  do  not 
know  and  can  not  tell. 

In  the  darker  days  of  the  world's  history,  man- 
kind accepted  in  their  belief  a  thousand  things  that 
are  now  rejected.  We  pity  their  ignorance  and  cre- 
dulity, and  laugh  at  their  folly ;  yet  we  are  bound  to 
admit  this  much  in  their  favor,  that  they  most  sin- 
cerely believed  what  they  claimed  to  believe.  To  them, 
their  beliefs  were  not  fancies,  but  facts;  and  on  these 
was    their   faith   founded.     As  light  increased,  and  as 


200  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

the  capabilities  of  maukiud  to  see  aud  compreheud 
were  developed  aud  enlarged,  their  facts  were  found 
to  be  mere  fancies,  and  they  were  abandoned.  This 
we  call  progress,  and  so  it  is.  But  now  it  has  come 
to  pass  that,  in  both  faith  and  practice,  the  manifest 
falsity  of  a  theory — the  plain  and  palpably  spurious 
character  of  a  thing — does  not  aifect  its  acceptability ; 
so  that  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  genuine 
and  the  counterfeit  is  not  distinct.  This  is  not 
progress. 

For  instance,  the  whole  business  of  the  American 
people  is  done  on  the  bogus  basis  that  credit  is  cap- 
ital. An  enterprising  citizen  in  one  of  our  Western 
States  boasted  that  two  years  ago  he  was  not  worth 
a  cent,  aud  now  he  owed  two  million  dollars.  He  re- 
garded himself  as  a  millionaire.  Bankruptcy  is  the 
legitimate  result  of  this  deception.  We  all  see  it  and 
know  it,  yet  persist  in  it. 

The  immense  financial  interests  of  the  American 
people  continually  rest  on  the  shifting  sands  of  pub- 
lic confidence.  A  few  failures  will  start  a  wave  of 
distrust  that  will  soon  spread  and  swell  into  panicky 
billows  that  sweep  away  the  sandy  foundation,  and 
everything  resting  on  it  is  involved  in  a  common 
ruin.  This  occurs  periodically,  yet  we  learn  nothing 
from  it.  We  are  so  wedded  to  shams,  and  we  so 
love  the  spurious,  that  we  are  continually  repeating 
the  folly. 

King  Bogus  is  not  only  a  distinguished  inventor, 
but  he  has  ever  been  successful  as  a  manufacturer. 
In  this  he  is  without  a  peer.  He  has  no  power  of 
omnipotence  to  create  a  world  out  of  nothing,  but  he 


The  Reign  of  King  Bogus.  201 

can  come  nearer  such  a  miracle  than  auy  other  finite 
power.  He  can  take  the  smallest  possible  demagogue, 
and  manufacture  an  immense  statesman  out  of  him, 
and  keep  him  before  the  people  as  such  for  an  in- 
credible length  of  time — a  miracle  almost  as  wonderful 
as  the  five  loaves  .and  two  fishes,  with  the  difference 
that  when  the  demagogue  is  used  up  there  is  nothing 
left,  not  even  one  basketful  of  remains.  King  Bogus 
can  manufacture  a  reputation  for  literature,  for  law, 
for  medicine,  for  wisdom  generally,  for  one  of  his  own 
puppets,  and  with  it  the  cheat  can  do  an  immense 
business,  accumulate  a  fortune,  and  create  a  tremen- 
dous sensation  out  of  it,  before  a  sham-loving  world 
will  abandon  their  idolatry. 

He  can  manufacture  a  remedy  for  every  ill  that 
flesh  is  heir  to,  and  have  the  whole  world  with  wry 
faces  swallowing  his  nostrums,  or  with  child-like  con- 
fidence bathing  with  his  sham  and  worthless  lini- 
ments. So  eager  arc  the  lumian  race  for  his  rascally 
drug-decoctions  that  they  will  even  imagine  they  have 
a  disease,  so  that  they  may  enroll  themselves  on  the 
list  of  his  patients  and  have  the  delight  of  using  his 
nostrums. 

The  most  powerful  abettor  in  the  work  of  makino 
statesmen  out  of  demagogues,  pills  out  of  dough, 
lawyers  out  of  shysters,  doctors  out  of  quacks,  and 
philosophers  out  of  fools,  is  the  newspaper  of  the 
times.  Mankind  are  so  prone  to  believe  what  they 
see  printed  that,  with  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
press  on  his  side.  King  Bogus  can  make  his  shams 
go  right  along  with  the  powerful  help  of  ink  and 
types. 


202  The  Reign  of  King  Bogus. 

Tlie  remedy,  if  it  can  be  applied,  is  manifest. 
The  individual  man  must  assert  himself.  He  must 
break  the  bonds  of  fashion  that  have  bound  him, 
cease  to  be  the  mere  slave  of  custom,  free  himself 
from  the  dictation  of  dogma  and  cant,  go  with  his 
party  only  when  his  conscience  and  his  judgment  tell 
liim  that  it  is  right,  have  the  manly  courage  to  de- 
fend the  truth  and  assail  the  false,  reject  the  spuri- 
ous and  demand  and  accept  nothing  but  the  genuine, 
rebel  against  the  reign  of  King  Bogus,  and  "fight  it 
out  on  that  line"  if  it  takes  a  life-time. 


A  SUCCESSFUL  LIFE. 

WHEN  the  record  of  human  life  is  made  up,  il 
ought  to  present  the  happy  combination  of 
oaviug  accomplished  the  promotion  of  the  general 
?ood,  and  at  the  same  time  have  won  to  the  indi- 
vidual great  personal  achievement.  Such  a  life  is 
i»ven  and  well  balanced.  Its  completeness  challenges 
the  just  admiration  of  all  observers;  and  its  iuHusnce 
is  a  blessing  and  a  benediction. 

Like  an  unbroken  and  })olished  column,  standing 
alone  amidst  the  rubbish  and  broken  fragments  of  the 
ruins  of  a  great  city,  so  is  such  a  life  amidst  the  wasted 
and  worthless  lives  on  every  side.  The  true  destiny 
and  duty  of  every  human  being  is  to  strive  for  such 
a  life,  to  make  such  an  enviable  record.  He  is  not  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  others,  or  others  for  himself. 
While  he  is  not  to  be  selfish,  he  is  not  required  to 
give  up  his  self-love.  While  the  former  is  detestable 
and  degrading,  the  latter  is  commendable  and  en- 
nobling. 

One  may  summon  every  power  that  God  has  given 
him,  and  place  these  precious  gifts  under  constant 
drill  and  training,  and,  when  ready  for  his  mission  in 
life,  he  may  enter  the  contest  with  all  his  cultivated 
forces,    and    with    the    courage    of  a    hero   and   tiie 


Delivered   before   the    Literary  Societies  of   tlie   Indiana 
State  Universit}'. 

203 


204  A  Successful  Life. 

gallantry  of  a  knight  may  fight  for  the  victory.  And 
when  it  is  won,  it  is  his.  He  is  not  required  to  put 
aside  and  refuse  to  accept  the  just  promotion  that  his 
bravery  has  won  for  him.  While  humanity  grate- 
fully accepts  the  benefits  that  his  courage  has  won 
for  the  race ;  while  civilization  may  move  up  a  de- 
gree or  two  because  of  his  heroic  removal  of  hinder- 
ing causes  in  the  way ;  while  halting  human  progress 
is  enabled  to  advance  a  step  or  two  because  of  his 
chivalry, — yet  whatever  of  personal  benefits  that  have 
legitimately  resulted  to  him  are  rightfully  his.  It  is 
his  manifest  duty  to  accept  and  appropriate  them  as 
the  trophies  of  his  triumph.  It  rounds  out  and 
makes  symmetrical  the  life  of  the  hero ;  and  it  stands 
before  the  world  in  its  perfectness  and  beauty,  a 
model  for  imitation  and  a  stimulus  to  human  am- 
bition. 

The  life  that  gives  everything  to  others  and  re- 
serves nothing  for  self,  becomes  a  voluntary  and  un- 
necessary sacrifice  on  the  world's  altar.  While  it  may 
call  out  the  best  love  and  sympathy  of  our  hearts, 
there  is  yet  mingled  with  our  affection  a  painful  sense 
of  commiseration.  Beautiful  as  it  may  be,  the  injus- 
tice of  the  sacrifice  is  the  blot  on  the  picture.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  life  that  greedily  grasps  all  for  self, 
and  refuses  to  divide  with  humanity,  excites  only  our 
contempt  and  hate.  The  one  leaning  entirely  to  hu- 
manity, the  other  leaning  entirely  to  self, — both  are 
out  of  plumb.  The  model  and  beautiful  life  is  the  one 
standing  erect  between  the  two. 

I  am  willing  to  concede  that  this  statement  is 
justly  subject  to  modification.     There  have  been  many 


A  Successful  Life  205 

times  and  periods  in  tlie  history  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  same  ^vill  doubtless  occur  again  and  again  in 
the  coming  future,  when  the  individual  must  give  up 
all  for  his  race  or  his  government.  In  the  future,  as 
in  the  past,  he  may  be  required  to  become  a  martyr 
for  the  cause  of  truth.  Individual  man  may  often 
yet  be  called  upon  to  forego  all  personal  aims,  ambi- 
tions, and  desires,  and  ])lace  everything — even  life  it- 
self— on  the  altar  of  sacrifice. 

It  is  strong  if  not  conclusive  evidence  that  man  is 
created  in  the  image  of  his  !Maker  that  in  all  times 
and  periods  of  the  past,  whenever  these  demands  have 
been  made,  many  have  rushed  to  the  sacrifice  as  to  a 
banquet.  This  noble  band  of  martyrs  is  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  our  humanity  in  their  sacrificial  offerings 
of  themselves  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-men. 

In  the  darker  days  of  the  world's  history,  it  seems 
that  civilization  could  only  be  moved  a  degree  or  two 
higher  by  placing  the  bodies  of  those  who  loved  and 
dared  for  the  truth  beneath  the  wheels  of  the  car  of 
human  progress.  The  individual  was  compelled  to 
die  that  the  truth  might  live.  It  is  a  comforting  re- 
flection that  these  sacrifices,  cruel  and  bloody  as  they 
were,  were  not  altogether  vain. 

"Whenever  the  guillotine  smote  off  the  head  of  a 
martyr,  it  sundered  a  band  of  superstition  that  bound 
the  race;  and  from  the  smoldering  embers  of  the 
burning  fagots  that  sent  the  soul  of  the  Christian  to 
heaven  in  a  cliariot  of  fire  and  flame,  there  has  ever 
been  seen  a  luminous  ray  that  continued  to  point  the 
world  to  the  path  that  grew  brighter  and  brighter. 

As  the  human  race  steps  higher  and  reaches  the 


206  A  Successful  Life. 

broader  plains  of  truth,  those  extraordinary  demands 
on  the  individual  will  become  less  frequent,  and  in 
the  co::iing  and  better  future  they  will  cease  alto- 
gether,— cease  when  persecutions  and  war  shall  be 
compelled  to  lay  aside  their  bloody  weapons,  and 
meet  at  the  bar  of  reason  and  justice  for  the  settle- 
ment and  adjustment  of  all  disputed  questions. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  take  these  into  account 
on  this  occasion.  I  do  not  propose  to  consider  the 
duties  that  war,  persecution,  or  pestilence  may  re- 
quire of  the  individual  man,  but  rather  to  turn  aside 
from  these  terrible  convulsions  that  so  disrupt  the 
rights  and  relations  of  the  human  family,  to  the  con- 
sideration of  life  in  the  more  peaceful  hours  of  hap- 
piness and  prosperity. 

In  view  of  the  interesting  fact  that  I  find  myself 
the  honored  guest  of  this  University,  and  of  the  more 
interesting  fact  that  this  is  Commencement  occasion, 
and  that  I  am  in  the  presence  of  so  many  who  are 
preparing  to  go  hence  and  enter  the  harder  school  of 
life's  experience — a  school  whose  curriculum  reaches  to 
the  end  of  life — I  have  chosen  for  the  theme,  as  fit  and 
appropriate  for  the  occasion,  -^  A  Successful  Life." 

An  elaborate  discussion  of  the  theme  can  not  be 
attemi)ted.  The  subject  is  too  large  for  the  discus- 
sion of  an  hour.  The  complete  record  of  all  the 
trials  and  conflicts,  the  victories  and  defeats,  the  hopes 
and  fears,  the  aspirations  and  ambitions,  the  tempta- 
tions and  trials  of  a  single  life  that  has  been  allotted 
full  measure  of  threescore  and  ten  years,  would  fill 
more  volumes  than  may  be  found  in  the  libraries  of 
your  societies. 


A  Successful  Life.  207 

Such  a  record  has  never  yet  been  made,  and  never 
will  be.  All  of  the  ethical  writings  of  the  literature 
of  the  world  would  not  make  even  the  preface  to  the 
varied  experiences  of  one  single  successful  human 
life.  Even  the  most  gifted,  who  may  have  the  clear- 
est and  brightest  experience,  could  never  begin  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  many  and  varied  emotions  of  his 
soul.     They  are 

"As  innumerable  as  the  stars  of  night, 
Or  stars  of  morning  dew-drops,  which  the  sun 
Impearls  on  every  leaf  and  flower." 

The  most  that  may  be  attempted  here  is  to  sound 
a  note  or  two  of  warning  to  those  who  are  just  enter- 
ing on  their  life's  career,  that  success  depends  more  on 
common  sense  than  sentimentality, — that  no  enthusi- 
asm is  of  any  force  that  is  not  the  result  of  a  con- 
viction which  is  the  outgrowth  of  deep  and  intelli- 
gent reflection. 

Without  considering  seriously  what  is  required, 
every  student  expects  to  make  his  a  successful  life. 
It  was  this  that  in  most  cases  prompted  the  student 
to  leave  the  happy  circle  of  home  endearments  and 
enter  these  halls  of  learning,  that  he  might,  by  the 
aid  of  good  mental  training,  make  it  sure. 

So  confident  and  hopeful  are  most  students  that 
they  can  and  will  win  in  the  race  of  life,  that  the 
hours  of  college  drill  and  training  seem  long  and 
tedious.  They  weary  of  the  monotony  of  the  prep- 
aration, and  are  impatient  to  enter  the  lists  for  the 
prizes  in  life,  doubting  not  of  success.  The  many 
failures  in  life  all  around  them  do  not  seem  to  check 
their  ardor  or  cause  them  to  hesitate. 


208  A  Successful  Life. 

Perhaps  it  is  well  that  this  is  so.  But  it  would 
be  better  if  the  many  failures  that  are  constantly  be- 
fore thera  would  cause  them  to  make  a  more  careful 
survey  of  the  causes  producing  these  unhappy  re- 
sults, to  the  end  that  they  might  avoid  the  same 
breakers  that  have  wrecked  those  around  them. 

On  every  race-course  the  racers  struggle  for  the 
advantages  that  may  be  obtained  in  the  start.  It  is 
deemed  by  them  of  the  first  importance  to  secure 
this,  to  promote  the  chances  of  winning.  To  meet 
the  obligations  and  duties  of  life,  and  cause  it  to  be 
a  blessing  to  others  and  a  personal  success,  we  must 
calculate  all  these  advantages  that  may  be  secured  in 
the  beginning  of  the  race.  The  success  or  failure 
depends  largely  on  this. 

Sydney  Smith  says  :  "  Let  every  man  be  occupied 
^n  the  highest  employment  of  which  his  nature  is 
capable,  and  die  with  a  consciousness  that  he  has 
done  his  best."  No  man  can  do  his  best  unless  he 
does  the  very  thing  his  Creator  intended  him  to  do. 
He  must  follow  the  very  path  in  life  that  has  been 
chosen  for  him,  and  fulfill  the  mission  that  has  been 
so  mysteriously  selected  for  him. 

To  meet  all  the  varied  requirements  of  human 
society,  and  to  promote  in  the  highest  degree  the 
civilization  and  happiness  of  humanity,  a  countless 
number  of  gifts  are  given  to  the  children  of  men. 
One  favor  is  mysteriously  bestowed  on  one,  and  a 
different  gift  to  another,  and  thus  the  numberless 
blessings  are  passed  around,  and  none  are  entirely 
overlooked.  To  the  favored  few,  rare  and  extraor- 
dinary powers  are  given. 


A  Successful  Life.  209 

If  the  student  passes  through  the  curricuhim  of 
the  college,  bearing  away  the  highest  honors  of  his 
class,  if  he  has  neglected  to  look  within  his  own 
nature  to  learn  what  was  intended  for  liira  to  do,  his 
education  is  not  finished;  it  is  not  really  commenced. 
He  must  know  himself  so  thoroughly  that  he  will  be 
assured  of  what  he  can  do  best. 

Having  made  this  important  discovery,  he  should 
not  allow  himself  to  be  diverted  from  this  very  path 
his  natural  aptitudes  point  out  that  he  must  fol- 
low. If  he  finds,  as  is  often  the  case,  that  there 
seems  to  be  no  special  work  for  him  to  do,  that  one 
path  in  life  is  as  plain  as  another,  he  will  be  sure  to 
make  this  discovery,  that  there  are  many  paths  that 
he  is  plainly  forbidden  to  follow.  These  that  he  learns 
are  thus  prohibited  he  must  certainly  avoid,  and 
make  his  choice  from  the  -plainest  of  the  others. 
He  must  pursue  the  mission  to  which  it  leads  with 
all  his  soul,  mind,  and  strength. 

To  the  end  that  he  may  have  a  full  and  clear 
conception  of  his  own  powers,  and  to  intelligently 
determine  whether  he  is  fitted  for  any  special  work, 
the  student  must,  at  the  very  outset  in  life,  divest 
himself  of  all  self-conceit  and  vanity,  and  diligently 
and  honestly  study  the  deep  mysteries  of  his  own 
being. 

If  he  finds,  in  the  deep  recesses  of  his  soul  or  in 
the  hidden  chambers  of  his  mind,  the  finger  of  God 
pointing  the  way  he  must  go,  there  is  no  choice  but 
to  obey.  It  may  not  be  in  the  direction  of  his  de- 
sires or  ambition.  Such  an  investigation  may  result 
in    humiliation    and    self-abasement.     It    may   cause 

14 


210  A  Successful  Life. 

many  a  splendid  air-castle  to  vanish.  It  may  dispel 
the  delightful  dreams  and  scatter  the  sweet  delusions 
that  have  blinded  his  vision  from  the  sight  of  life's 
realities,  and  brought  such  sweet  peace  and  hope  lo 
his  heart.  It  may  break  in  pieces  every  idol  he  has 
devoutly  worshiped.  It  will  require  the  highest  type 
of  courage  to  make  this  necessary  self-examination. 
Mankind  naturally  incline  to  think  more  highly  of 
themselves  than  they  ought  to  think,  and  to  maintain 
tills  good  opinion  they  tell  more  falsehoods  to  them- 
selves than  they  do  to  the  world.  They  cheat  them- 
selves in  regard  to  themselves  more  than  they  cheat 
others.  But,  unwelcome  as  may  be  the  revelation,  if 
not  made  at  the  beginning  by  an  honest  and  volun- 
tary effort,  it  will  force  itself  without  bidding  after- 
ward. The  humiliation  will  come  some  time;  better  a 
time  when  the  eyes  of 'the  world  are  not  the  wit- 
nesses. 

When  the  great  genius,  whether  in  art,  eloquence, 
or  invention,  startles  and  awakens  a  sleepy  world  by 
his  matchless  performance,  and  gathers  to  himself  a 
rich  harvest  of  fame  or  wealth,  his  ambitious  specta- 
tors seem  to  forget  the  important  injunction:  "Know 
thyself."  A  countless  throng  of  imitators  spring  up, 
and  vainly  strive  to  reach  the  same  eminence.  They 
forget  that  the  genius  did  not  climb  to  the  point  he 
occupies  ;  he  was  there  from  the  first.  God,  with  his 
own  divine  and  omnipotent  arm,  lifted  him  there. 

If  he  be  a  painter,  he  is  but  transferring  to  the 
canvas  the  beautiful  pictures  with  which  his  Maker 
has  decorated  his  gifted  soul.  If  he  be  a  poet,  he  is 
but   scattering    the   flowers    on    the    pathway   of   life 


A  Successful  Life.  211 

that  grow  so  luxuriously  in  the  garden  of  his  soul, 
where  the  seed  has  been  sown  by  the  Author  of 
everything  that  is  lovely.  If  he  be  an  orator,  whose 
thundering  eloquence  crashes  through  the  moss- 
covered  battlements  of  public  opinion,  sweeping  away 
with  its  resistless  force  the  obstacles  and  long  stand- 
ing abuses  that  custom  has  placed  directly  in  the 
way  of  human  advancement,  carrying  away  many  an 
ancient  creed  and  venerable  dogma,  and  compelling 
mankind  to  search  anew  amid  the  ruins  he  has  made 
for  the  truth,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  was 
called  and  endowed  for  this  w^ork  by  wisdom  that  is 
infinite. 

As  the  lightning  that  flashes  from  the  angry  brow  of 
the  cloud,  burning  up  the  noxious  gases  and  purifying 
the  very  atmosphere  we  breathe,  is  an  emanation 
from  the  source  of  all  wisdom,  no  less  are  the  flash- 
ings of  the  orator,  consuming  the  fogs  of  superstition 
and  prejudice  that  blind  the  minds  and  darken  the 
souls  of  mankind.  The  vast  number  who,  possessing 
none  of  these  rare  gifts,  essay  to  be  the  peers  of  the 
genius,  and  undertake  to  accomplish  the  same  thing, 
are  but  feeble  imitators,  and  most  ridiculous  failures. 

"Tompkins  forsakes  liis  last  and  awl, 
For  literary  squabbles; 
Styles  himself  "  Poet;"  but  his  trade 
Remains  the  same — he  cobbles." 

The  world  in  all  ages  has  been  full  of  them  ;  the 
shores  of  the  great  ocean  of  human  life  and  des- 
tiny are  strewn  with  these  wrecks — human  failures, 
stranded  and  broken  on  tlio  rocks  and  reefs,  around 
which  those  with  greater  natural  gifts  have  sailed  in 


212  A  SuccEsssuL  Life. 

safety.  What  bitterness  and  disappointment,  wliat 
mortification  and  remorse  might  have  been  avoided, 
had  all  this  vast  throng  of  mere  imitators  but  had 
the  courage  to  honestly  look  at  their  incapacity,  and 
only  undertaken  the  work  they  could  have  done  with 
usefulness  to  others  and  honor  to  themselves !  It  is 
as  much  a  duty  the  student  owes  to  society  as  to 
himself,  that  he  should  do  well  what  he  attempts  to 
do,  that  he  should  know  how  to  fulfill  the  require- 
ments of  his  life-work. 

The  human  race,  in  the  most  advanced  and  culti- 
vated portions,  have  but  just  marched  out  from  be- 
neath a  dark  cloud  of  ignorance  and  superstition. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  human  family  are  still 
found  in  the  rear,  groping  their  uncertain  way  in  the 
darkness  and  gloom  of  barbarism.  To  widen  the 
area  of  civilization,  to  bring  the  world  more  and 
more  under  its  influence,  to  wage  an  aggressive  war 
on  the  domain  of  barbarism  and  seize  and  occupy 
the  territory,  requires  that  every  educated  human 
being  should  know  enough  to  know  what  he  can 
do  best. 

Humanity  needs  all  the  well-directed  efforts  of 
every  member  to  widen  the  bounds  of,  and  perfect, 
our  civilization.  The  misdirected  efforts  and  the 
worse  than  wasted  energy  of  that  innumerable  host 
who  are  so  ignorant  of  their  own  capability  as  to 
spend  their  lives  in  trying  to  accomplish  impossible 
things,  is  an  incalculable  loss  to  the  elevating  and 
reformatory  forces.  Not  only  a  loss,  but  an  absolute 
hindrance.  These  incapables  are  as  serious  an  ob- 
struction to  the  forward  march  of  civilization    as   the 


A  Successful  Life.  213 

sick  and  wounded  are  to  the  movements  of  an  army. 
As  iu  war  a  large  force  of  strong  fighting  men  are 
detailed  to  take  care  of  the  cripples,  so  in  human 
progress  a  heavy  drain  is  constantly  made  on  the  in- 
telligence of  the  world  to  correct  the  mistakes  and 
mend  the  breaches  that  have  been  made  by  the  inca- 
pables  and  the  blunderers. 

It  may  be  said  that  failure  to  perform  well  and 
thoroughly  the  duties  of  life  does  not  result  so  nmch 
from  an  unfortunate  choice  of  work  as  from  a  lack 
of  energy  to  prosecute  it  to  a  successful  issue.  To  a 
limited  extent  this  may  be  true;  but  a  careful  investi- 
gation will,  in  most  cases,  disclose  the  fact  that  the 
lack  of  energy  is  the  result  of  a  want  of  adaptation  to 
the  work  in  hand. 

There  is  nothing  so  inspiring  as  the  delightful 
realization  that  the  duty  to  be  done  is  fully  compre- 
hended, and  that  we  have  the  ability  to  do  and  per- 
form it  well.  This  consciousness  is  electrical.  It 
touches  and  quickens  the  mental  and  physical  activ- 
ities, and  puts  the  whole  man  to  active  work  with 
a  speed  and  force  beyond  which  he  supposed  he  was 
capable. 

It  is  the  failure  to  fully  understand  the  work  be- 
fore us,  and  the  distrust  of  the  ability  to  do  it,  that 
cause  the  halting  and  doubting  and  lack  of  energy. 
"Our  doubts  are  traitors,  and  make  us  lose  the  good 
we  oft  might  win  by  fearing  to  attempt."  There 
may  be  a  case  here  and  there  where  the  right  path 
in  life  has  been  chosen — when  the  work  to  be  done 
is  clearly  understood ;  and  yet  the  worker  lags  and 
refuses    to   do    it.      The    large    majority  are    of  the 


£14  A  Successful  Life. 

other  class   I   have   named,  and  they  make  the  rule 
good. 

There  are  other  serious  ills  growing  out  of  this 
evil  of  mistaking   the    vocation  of   life.     It  poisons 
the  very  fountain  of  human   happiness  by  creating  a 
mighty   host  of  grumblers,  malcontents,  and    misan- 
thropes.    They  may  be  found  in  every  social  circle, 
and  in  the  business  marts — in  every  place  the  human 
race  meet   in  the  varied   duties  of  life — chilling  the 
ardor  of  human  pursuit,  and  making  discords  in  the 
songs  of  human  triumphs  by  their  doleful   lamenta- 
tions  and   pitiful   complainings.     Too   proud  or  dis- 
honest to  admit  that  the  cause  of  their  failure  is  with 
themselves,  they  unjustly  charge  that  others  are  con- 
spiring against  them ;    and  they  fill   their  disordered 
fancy  with  a  thousand  baseless  suspicions,  and  become 
the  enemies  of  all   others   who   are    successful.     En- 
tirely  conscious  of  the    fact   that   he  is  a  failure,  no 
amount  of  flattery  can  remove  that  dreadful  fact  from 
such  a  person's  mind ;    and,  looking  for  the  reason  in 
every  direction  but  the  right  one,  he  goes  blundering 
through    life,  mingling  the  misery  he  feels  with  the 
joys  of  all  others  with    whom   he  comes  in  contact. 
To  the  more  sensitive  this  unhappiness  too  often  ends 
in    the    mad-house,   or   in    self-destruction.      If  this 
view  of  the  subject   be  correct,  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  the  highest  public  interest  to  correct  the  evil. 

In  the  intricate  and  dependent  relations  of  human 
life,  every  individual  has  stock  in  every  other  man. 
His  capabilities  and  his  energies  are  the  capital 
basis.  From  these  must  come  the  dividends  that 
the  individual  declares  to  society  and  to  himself. 


A  Successful  Life.  215 

Tu  a  mischosen  vocation,  not  only  are  the  capa- 
bilities of  the  individual  wasted  by  the  friction  that 
results  from  want  of  adaptation  to  his  work,  but  the 
failure  to  accomplish  expected  results  soon  prostrates 
and  paralyzes  his  energy ;  and,  in  the  noonday  of 
life,  when  he  ought  to  be  in  the  height  of  his  useful- 
ness and  the  zenith  of  his  glory,  his  sun  sets  behind 
the  dark  clouds  of  discontent  and  despair.  Society 
has  lost  a  worker,  and  civilization  a  helper,  and  the 
truth  of  Holy  Writ  is  corroborated  that  "  no  man 
liveth  to  himself." 

That  so  many  choose  the  wrong  path,  and  so  few 
are  doing  what  their  capacity  warrants  them  in  at- 
tempting— that  in  all  the  departments  of  human 
action  are  found  such  a  host  of  mediocres  and  blun- 
derers— is  very  largely  the  fault  of  a  false  public 
opinion.  Public  sentiment  must  enlarge  her  premium 
list.  The  prizes  must  not  be  confined  to  those  who 
succeed  in  the  learned  professions  or  in  war  or  in 
politics;  but  the  rule  must  be  that  all  w^ho  wisely 
choose  their  calling,  and  then  do  their  best  in  it — 
doing,  if  possible,  better  than  any  who  have  trod  the 
same  path  before — let  them  be  the  heroes.  Let  not 
the  honor  attach  to  the  calling  or  profession,  but  to 
the  thorough  and  complete  manner  in  which  the  duties 
pertaining  to  it  are  performed.  Let  every  work, 
necessary  to  the  well-being  and  happiness  of  the 
human  race,  bring  him  who  performs  it  well  to  the 
same  front  line  with  every  other  successful  life. 

Whether  in  agriculture,  in  the  work-shop,  in  the 
mine,  or  in  the  quarry,  wherever  a  human  being  is 
using  all  his   powers  to  the  best  advantage,  and  ac- 


216  A  Successful  Life. 

complishing  the  greatest  results  of  which  he  is  capa- 
ble, let  the  same  praise  be  given  as  to  those  who  dis- 
tinguish themselves  on  the  judicial  bench  or  at  the 
bar  or  in  the  pul])it.  Let  the  seductive  charms  that 
false  public  opinion  has  lent  to  the  few  callings  in 
life  be  dispelled;  let  the  ban  of  disfavor  which  has 
been,  by  the  same  influence,  placed  on  the  many  use- 
ful vocations  be  removed ;  let  them  stand  with  no 
mere  arbitrary  merit  or  demerit,  bidding  the  beginner 
of  his  life's  work  make  his  choice,  and  promising 
equal  honor  to  all  who  do  their  best, — emphasizing  the 
couplet  of  Pope: 

"Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise; 
Act  well  your  part — there  all  the  honor  lies." 

Let  there  be  no  more  of  the  vicious  teaching  ol 
the  young  that  the  great  end  and  aim  of  life  is  to 
choose  a  profession  that  will  give  them  character  and 
position  in  society.  Let  us  rather  strive  to  impress 
their  minds  that  human  life  is  a  high  and  holy  mis- 
sion, and  that  each  soul  bears  the  burden  of  a  sacred 
trust,  and  that  that  trust  can  only  be  executed  by 
doing  the  most  and  all  they  can  do  in  the  range  of 
their  powers;  and  that  when  the  duties  are  well  done, 
in  whatever  sphere  of  human  action  it  may  be,  the 
successful  man  there  is  the  peer  of  every  other  faith- 
ful man,  and  thai  his  position  among  men  can  only 
be  attained  in  that  way — by  fidelity  to  his  trust;  and 
that  all  other  praise  besides  this  is  false  and 
worthless. 

This  would,  it  seems  to  me,  remove  a  mountain  of 
difficulty  and  embarrassment  out  of  the  way,  and  a 


A  Successful  Life.  217 

correct  choice  would  then  be  the  rule,  and  a  wrong 
one  the  exception. 

When  our  young  men  see  that  the  workl's  hon- 
ors are  given  for  genuine  merit  and  true  manliood; 
when  public  sentiment  is  so  elevated  that  no  profes- 
sion ranks  higher  than  the  man  who,  with  but  one 
talent,  is  using  it  to  the  best  advantage  ;  when  they 
find  that  it  is  more  honorable  to  be  a  success  in  a  call- 
ing within  the  range  of  their  capacity  than  to  be  a  fail- 
ure in  what  is  called  the  higher  professions, — then,  and 
not  till  then,  will  they  cease  to  be  tempted  from  the 
path  designed  for  them. 

Public  opinion  here,  as  elsewhere,  with  its  almost 
resistless  power,  controls  the  destinies  of  the  indi- 
vidual. When  it  is  for  the  right,  no  wrong  can 
stand  against  it ;  when  it  is  wrong,  it  is  an  almost 
insurmountable  obstacle  to  progress. 

Young  men  inheriting  a  wealth  of  physical 
strength  and  vigor,  with  mind  enough  to  make  them 
useful  in  making  tunnels  through  the  mountains  or 
spanning  the  rivers  with  bridges,  in  helping  in  the 
construction  of  railways  and  in  assisting  to  operate 
them,  in  building  cities,  and  in  clearing  away  the 
wildneruess  and  making  it  bud  and  blossom  like  the 
rose,  fitting  it  as  a  suitable  abode  for  civilized  man, 
are  seduced,  by  these  partial  awards  that  society 
makes,  from  their  grand  position  on  the  skirmish-line 
of  our  advancing  civilization,  for  which  they  are  so 
well  adapted,  to  enter  the  learned  professions,  for 
which  they  have  no  fitness. 

Young  men  who  ought  to  be  at  the  forge,  shap' 
ing  the  iron    into  things  of  beauty  and  utility,  and, 


218  A  Successful  Life. 

with  their  steady  and  stalwart  blows,  filliug  their 
shops  with  the  shining  sparks  from  their  anvils,  are 
but  too  often  found  at  the  bar  or  in  the  pulpit,  pound- 
ins:  at  the  statutes  and  commentaries  or  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  without  sending  out  a  spark  of 
light  from  either  as  the  result  of  their  misdirected 
efforts. 

Young  men  with  the  rose  of  health  on  their 
cheeks,  and  with  the  bone  and  muscle  of  giants,  hav- 
ing no  capacity  as  teachers,  are  pining  away  and 
wasting  their  rich  inheritance  in  some  narrow  garret 
they  call  their  study,  delving  into  Greek  and  Latin 
lexicons  and  grammars  in  search  of  the  roots  of 
these  dead  languages,  while  God  intended  them  to 
be  behind  the  plow,  tearing  up  roots  in  the  way  of 
the  plowman,  animated  by  the  laudable  ambition  to 
be  the  best  farmer  and  have  the  best  farm  in  the 
country. 

Young  men,  infatuated  with  the  delusion  that  they 
possess  such  a  wealth  of  imagination  that  they  can 
become  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  firmament 
of  fiction  or  poetry, — who  are  beating  their  barren 
brains,  in  imitation  of  the  poet, 

"  Their  ej'es  in  fine  frenzy  rolling,"— 

would  be  better  filling  their  mission  by  roUing  logs 
in  their  fathers'  clearing. 

In  every  civilized  land,  in  all  the  highways  and 
byways  of  human  action,  we  find  the  pitiful  army  of 
mediocres.  Among  them  is  the  briefless  lawyer,  the 
starving  physician,  the  threadbare  preacher,  the  im- 
pecunious teacher,  all  begging  the  world  to  ask  them 


A  Successful  Life.  219 

to  do  something  they  do  not  know  how  to  do  and 
will  never  learu.  They  spend  their  lives  in  idle 
amazement  that  a  stubborn  public  will  not  put  their 
property,  their  bodies,  their  souls,  and  their  children 
under  their  charge  and  keeping. 

They  vainly  imagine  that  the  public  are  so  stupid 
as  not  to  have  discovered  that  they  would  not  know 
what  to  do  with  them  if  they  had  them.  In  this  they 
are  sadly  mistaken.  The  world  has  found  out  their 
incapacity  to  meet  the  demands,  and  is  rushing  by 
them,  led  only  by  those  who  have  wisely  chosen  their 
work  and  know  how  to  do  it. 

It  might  be  pertinent  to  ask  right  here,  as  to 
whether  there  is  any  rule  by  which  the  individual 
may  know  what  path  in  life  will  most  certainly  lead 
to  success. 

If  the  metaphysicians  have  made  any  clear  and 
w^ell-defiued  declaration  on  this  subject,  I  am  not 
aware  of  it.  When  great  gifts  are  given  to  men, 
these  extraordinary  powers  lead  the  way  by  their  own 
innate  strength.  They  overlap  all  barriers  of  poverty 
or  obscure  birth,  or  any  and  all  of  the  many  obstruc- 
tions that  artificial  society  may  place  in  the  way,  and 
by  their  own  force  bring  their  fortunate  possessor 
into  the  royal  way;  and  with  his  majestic  step  he 
rapidly  reaches  the  front,  and  demands  and  receives 
merited  recognition. 

When  the  natural  bent  of  the  mind  is  less  marked, 
and  the  gifts  are  of  the  ordinary  type,  the  path  is 
more  obscure.  A  searching  and  honest  examina- 
tion will  in  all  cases  disclose  the  aptitude  of 
the    mind,    and    inclinations    of    the    soul    will    fur- 


220  A  Successful  Life. 

nisli  a  reasonably  sure  guide  to  the  work  assigned. 
And  with  that  choice  one  must  be  content.  He 
must  cease  to  indulge  in  the  flights  of  a  senseless  and 
unreasoning  ambition  to  be  what  he  can  not  possibly 
attain,  and  must  indulge  in  the  more  rational  endeavor 
to  conquer  all  within  the  range  of  the  circle  wherein 
lie  is  called  to  move.  He  must  not  halt  or  doubt.  Ho 
must  enter  into  no  argument  with  himself  as  to  the 
propriety  of  his  choice,  but  go  right  forward  man- 
fully to  the  chosen  work  of  his  life.  If  the  expected 
rewards  and  triumphs  do  not  come  this  year  he  must 
have  the  patience  and  courage  to  wait  until  the 
next, — as  Longfellow  has  it : 

"Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 
Learn  to  labor,  and  to  wait." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  success  will  come  as 
the  result  of  a  correct  choice  of  the  pursuit  in  life. 
It  will  not  come  without  it,  yet  it  is  only  one  essen- 
tial and  important  step.  It  must  be  supplemented 
with  a  ceaseless  and  untiring  determination  to  be 
perfect  in  the  chosen  work.  It  may  take  years  of 
toil  and  effort,  in  which  time  there  may  be  many  dis- 
appointments and  defeats,  yet  the  grand  result  is  sure 
to  come  at  last. 

In  the  meantime,  the  mental,  moral,  and  physical 
powers  of  one's  being  must  not  be  enervated  by  the 
poison  of  vicious  habits.  He  must  study  and  fully 
comprehend  all  the  laws  of  his  entire  being  and 
obey  them.  While  he  renders  "  unto  Csesar  the 
things  that  are  Csesar's,"  he  must  at  the  same  time, 
with  greater  homage,  "  render  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's."     With  a  clear  and   full  comprehen- 


A  Successful  Life.  221 

sion  of  all  his  powers,  a  conscientious  conviction  of 
his  duties  and  obligations  to  God  and  man,  out  of 
even  moderate  abilities  may  come  grand,  concen- 
trated powers;  may  come  real  greatness,  producing 
great  results,  if  pushed  by  a  will-power  that  makes 
no  halting  or  debating,  and  is  not  enervated  I)y 
doubting. 

Every  sound  mind  in  a  healthy  body  has  some 
element  of  greatness  and  power  that  may  make  itself 
felt  and  recognized,  if  it  be  directed  in  the  proper 
course  and  driven  by  a  strong,  untiring  determina- 
tion to  win.  To  cultivate  and  develop  the  natural 
power,  to  find  the  proper  direction  and  to  strengthen 
and  bring  into  action  this  indispensable  will-power, 
is  the  practical  education  of  humanity. 

But  even  then  one  may  make  a  failure.  He  must 
have  behind  it  all,  and  beneath  it  all,  a  strong,  vigorous 
common  sense — a  common  sense  broad  enough  to  see 
and  comprehend  every  side  of  every  practical  question 
in  life — broad  enough  to  keep  the  man  from  becoming 
the  victim  of  crotchets,  and  to  keep  him  out  of  the 
narrow  ruts  of  the  hobby-riders.  He  must  cultivate 
such  a  devotion  for  the  truth  that  he  will  recognize 
it  and  accept  it,  whether  he  finds  it  on  the  side  of 
his  preconceived  opinions,  or  opposed  to  them.  He 
must  hail  her  standard,  and  elevate  it  above  the 
world's  parties  and  creeds,  and  follow  it,  whether  it 
leads  in  the  way  of  the  many  or  the  few.  He  must 
have  the  manly  courage  to  de^y  public  opinion  and 
popular  clamor,  and  stand  firm  in  his  conviction  of 
duty  and  right. 

While  he  should  have  proper   reverence  for  the 


222  A  Successful  Life. 

discoveries  that  have  been  made  iu  the  past,  and  the 
theories  that  the  great  miuds  of  the  worhl  have  left 
behind  them,  for  liis  guidance  and  direction;  yet,  if 
he  be  a  success,  he  must  do  his  own  thinking.  By 
constantly  consulting  the  man  within,  he  will  develop 
into  strength.  By  leaning  constantly  on  the  minds 
of  others,  he  will  become  a  weakling  and  a  dwarf. 
His  destiny  is  in  his  own  hands,  and  to  work  it  out 
successfully,  it  must  be  done  by  his  own  innate  and 
cultivated  strength. 

The  world  is  progressing.  Mankind  is  constantly 
moving  up  to  a  higher  and  broader  plane ;  and  each 
forward  and  upward  step  discloses  new  relations,  de- 
manding new  methods  and  requiring  new  plans,  for 
which  the  past  can  furnish  no  guide. 

The  self-reliant  thinkers  are  put  in  the  front ; 
those  who  never  think,  but  are  always  searching  for 
a  precedent,  are  put  in  the  rear.  The  former  are  the 
famous  leaders;  the  latter  are  the  unknown  followers. 

"  In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle, 
In  the  bivouac  of  life, 
Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle; 
Be  a  hero  in  the  strife." 

In  this  progressive  age  there  are  countless  un- 
claimed crowns  in  every  department  of  human  action, 
brighter  and  richer  than  any  that  have  yet  been  wr)n 
or  worn,  awaiting  the  brows  of  the  heroes  worthy  to 
wear  them.  These  crowns  will  be  placed  on  the 
heads  of  all  those  who,  in  their  several  spheres  of 
action,  have  taken  advanced  steps,  and  added  new 
pages  to  the  record  of  human  progress. 

The  vast  volumes  of  human  civilization   are   yet 


A  Successful  Life.  223 

to  be  written.  "We  are  but  the  first  volume  now.  AVe 
are  but  fairly  beginning  to  comprehend  something  of 
the  laws  governing  mind  and  matter.  In  every  di- 
rection, therefore,  new  discoveries  may  be  made,  and 
the  grandest  achievements  may  be  accomplished. 

These  discoveries  will  yield  rich  rewards,  not  only 
to  the  race,  but  to  the  discoverers.  At  this  period, 
therefore,  there  is  no  lack  of  incentives  to  attempt  a 
successful  life.  These  incentives  may  be  more  abun- 
dant and  glorious  in  the  coming  and  better  future ; 
but  the  past  can  furnish  no  parallel  to  the  present  in 
this  regard.  If  any  human  life  is  a  failure  now,  it  is 
because  of  a  refusal  to  undertake  what  could  be 
accomplished,  or,  knowing  what  might  be  done,  neg- 
lecting to  do  it. 

Every  human  being  that  makes  the  most  that  can 
be  made  out  of  himself,  and  reaches  the  highest  possi- 
ble development  of  his  capacity,  is  but  discharging  a 
duty  he  owes  to  himself  and  to  society.  To  do  this, 
his  work  must  not  only  be  congenial  to  his  nature,  but 
must  be  within  the  range  of  his  capacity  to  perform 
it  well.  As  he  progresses  in  it  and  with  it,  his  com- 
prehension of  his  duties  will  become  clearer  and 
broader;  and  if  he  will  then  back  it  up  with  an  un- 
yielding determination  to  win,  he  will  be  constantly 
finding  new  relations  and  laws  hitherto  hidden  and 
undiscovered  in  the  domain  of  his  activity.  With 
success  will  come  growth,  and  with  that  greatly  in- 
creased power  and  energy;  and  he  will  thus  make 
himself  a  member  of  the  royal  family  of  the  suc- 
cessful— a  family  that  have,  and  will  ever  have,  the 
homage  of  mankind. 


224  A  Successful  Life. 

.  Some  one  has  given  utterance  to  this  queer  ex- 
pression, that  "  there  is  nothing  so  successful  as  suc- 
cess ;"  but  it  is  as  true  as  it  is  quaint.  Many  a 
halting,  doubting  soul  has  been  strengthened  and 
([uiekened  into  a  useful  life  by  sini})ly  learning,  after 
a  single  effort,  that  he  is  a  success.  It  becomes  the 
constant  and  sustaining  stinmlant  in  all  the  conflicts 
and  labors,  the  aspirations  and  ambitions,  of  after 
life.  Success  re-enforces  itself  from  itself.  As  the 
rain  and  sunshine,  the  dews  and  the  winds,  cause  the 
twig  to  send  out  deeper  and  stronger  roots,  and  raise 
higher  and  larger  its  trunk,  causing  it  to  fling  out 
longer  and  stronger  branches  to  be  kissed  by  wel- 
coming breezes :  so  does  success  deepen  and  enlarge 
the  capacities  of  man,  and  elevate  and  magnify 
him  among  men;  and,  amid  the  storms  of  life,  he 
stands  firm  and  strong  in  the  well-assured  conscious- 
ness of  a  merit  that  has  been  tested  and  found  to 
be  genuine. 

He  feels  himself  that  he  is  a  nobleman,  recogniz- 
ing the  full  truth  uttered  by  Young : 

"  Who  does  the  best  his  circumstance  allows, 
Does  well,  acts  noblj' ;  angels  could  no  more." 

Aside  from  all  considerations  of  wealth  or  fame, 
there  is  in  success  this  grand  developing  process, 
that  of  itself  is  worth  all  the  effort  to  attain  it.  It 
is  the  mighty  educator  of  the  race.  It  battles  down 
the  walls  of  opposition,  and  raises  higher  and  higher 
the  standard  of  human  excellence  and  accomplish- 
ment. It  infuses  into  the  human  soul  grander  con- 
ceptions of  the  glory  and  dignity  of  human  nature, 
and  calls  into  action  the  whole  strength  of  his  being. 


A  Successful  Life.  225 

It  makes  the  weak  strong;  it  causes  the  timid  to  be 
bold,  and  fills  the  doubting  soul  with  living  faith. 
It  so  inspires  the  human  race  with  hojie  and  courage 
that  the  impossible  becomes  possible,  and  men  do  and 
dare  to  undertake  what  would  seem  to  be  beyond 
the  boundary  of  the  finite. 

But  there  is  a  higher  consideration  than  our  duty 
to  ourselves  or  to  society.  Whatever  ability  we  may 
have,  and  whatever  of  energy  we  possess  to  put  it 
at  the  work  of  life,  is  the  gift  of  God.  While  we 
should  prize  the  praise  of  our  fellow-men  when  suc- 
cess comes,  and  while  we  should  value  still  higher 
the  approbation  of  our  own  conscience  and  con- 
sciousness that  we  are  doing  our  best,  yet  the  sweet- 
est reward  should  be,  that  He  who  selected  our  mis- 
sion in  life,  and  gave  the  full  cajiacity  to  meet  all  its 
requirements,  looks  an  approving  smile  on  the  record 
of  our  life's  usefulness. 

Keeping  this  reward  constantly  in  view,  it  drives 
out  envyings,  jealousies,  and  so  purifies  the  purpose 
of  the  man  that  none  of  these  selfish  and  narrow  tend- 
encies of  human  nature  are  permitted  to  hinder  and 
interfere  with  his  devotion  to  the  work  of  life.  It  is 
not  only  a  powerful  ally  to  insure  his  success  in  the 
special  mission  of  his  life  ;  but  with  this  fixed  })rin- 
ciple  of  his  life,  in  all  his  varied  relations  and  duties 
he  measures  up  to  the  full  stature  of  a  man.  It 
sweetens,  purifies,  and  mingles  with  joy  the  contents 
of  the  cup  of  life's  existence,  so  that,  in  sunshine  and 
in  storm,  in  prosperity  or  in  adversity,  he  bravely  and 
joyously  bears  the  burdens  of  his  own  work,  cheered 

by  the  appreciation  of  his   fellow-men,  supported  by 

15 


226  A  Successful  Life. 

his  own  self-respect,  and  sustained  and  upheld  by  the 
Arm  that  is  more  than  human. 

Estimating  the  consciousness  of  duty  well  done 
above  the  praise  of  men,  and  placing-  the  rcAvards  of 
a  good  conscience  higher  than  the  luxury  of  wealth, 
I  commend  the  words  of  the  poet : 

"  What  shall  I  do  lest  life  in  silence  pass  ? 

And  if  it  do, 
And  never  prompt  the  bray  of  noisy  brass, 

What  need'st  thon  rue? 
Remember  aye  the  ocean's  deei)S  are  mute, 

The  shallows  roar ; 
Worth  is  the  ocean, — fame  is  but  the  bruit 

Along  the  shore. 

What  shall  I  do  to  be  forever  known  ? 

Thy  duty  ever; 
This  did  full  many  who  yet  sleep  unknown ; — 

O  never,  never, 
Think'st  thou  perchance  that  they  remain  unknown 

Whom  thou  knowest  not? 
By  angel  trumps  in  heaven  their  praise  is  blown ; 

Divine  their  lot. 

AVhat  shall  I  do  to  gain  eternal  life  ? 

Discbarge  aright 
The  simple  dues  of  which  each  day  is  rife  ? 

Yea,  with  thy  might. 
Ere  perfect  scheme  of  action  thou  devise. 

Will  life  be  fled. 
While  he  who  acts  as  conscience  cries 

Shall  live,  though  dead." 


THE  DOCTOR. 

DURING  the  late  war,  while  I  was  stationed  in 
Washington,  I  called  on  President  Lincoln  one 
day,  and  he  told  me  that  Ex-Senator  John  B.  AYeller 
had  that  day  applied  to  him  for  the  position  of  com- 
modore in  the  navy.  The  President  said :  "  I  asked 
Mr.  AVeller  what  he  knew  about  naval  affairs,  and  he 
said  he  knew  nothing  whatever;  but  he  added  that, 
from  the  character  of  some  of  the  brigadier-generals 
I  had  recently  appointed,  he  thought  the  less  he 
knew,  the  better  would  be  his  chances." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  this  incident  had  entirely 
passed  out  of  my  recollection — had  been  forgotten  for 
many  long  years — until  I  received  the  invitation  from 
the  dean  of  this  medical  faculty  to  make  this  address. 
AVhy  this  invitation  should  have  so  refreshed  my 
recollection,  I  leave  you  to  infer. 

The  inscription  over  the  doorway  of  the  Pytha- 
gorean schools  of  philosophy  in  ancient  Greece  said, 
"  Let  no  one  ignorant  of  geometry  enter  here."  I 
understand  that  the  inscription  of  the  medical  college 
has  been  in  all  the  past  in  regard  to  the  position  I 
now  occupy,  "  Let  none  but  the  dean  of  the  medical 
faculty  stand  here." 


Delivered  at  the  Grand  Opera-house,  Indianapolis,  at 
the  Commencement  Exercises  of  the  Medical  College  of 
Indiana. 

227 


228  The  Doctor. 

For  some  unaccountable  reason  this  inscription 
has  been  taken  down,  and  I  have  been  called  to  fill 
his  place.  If  I  am  first  to  inangnrate  this  new  de- 
parture, I  am  sure  I  will  be  the  last — the  Alj)ha  and 
Omega  of  this  singular  experiment.  It  may  be  that 
long  indulgence  in  the  high  and  strong  diet  of 
Medical  Science  has  produced  satiety,  and  the  re- 
action has  created  a  desire  for  plain  and  common 
fare — that  I  am  also  to  be  used  as  a  step-ladder  to 
bring  these  students  and  graduates  down  from  the 
tree  of  knowledge  to  the  common  earth  on  which  we 
live,  move,  and  have  our  being. 

It  may  be  that,  wearied  of  the  high-sounding 
language  of  the  professors,  the  constant  explosion  of 
the  technical  shells  fired  from  the  great  medical  guns 
of  the  largest  caliber  (I  was  about  to  say  bore)  has 
begotten  a  burning  desire  to  hear  how  common 
people  talk  about  e very-day  life.  These  young 
gentlemen,  who  have  finished  their  college  course, 
have  won  their  degree  by  long  and  patient  study  and 
investigation,  and  now  propose  to  put  the  theories 
they  have  learned  into  practice  and  be  called  some- 
body's doctor,  will  soon  learn  what  life  is. 

They  will  erelong  know  what  a  struggle  it  is 
for  a  young  man  to  gain  such  a  hold  on  the  con- 
fidence of  men  and  women  as  to  allow  him  to  treat 
their  many  ills.  They  will  soon  take  in  the  dis- 
agreeable fact  that  life  had  a  much  more  rosy  look 
when  viewed  from  a  distance — that  the  beautiful 
fancy  dissolves  when  they  tackle  its  ugly  reality.  I 
ought  not  to  say  anything  to  discourage  them  and 
have    them    give    n\)    their    profession    before    they 


The  Doctor.  229 

really  begiu.  I  would  not  advise  them  to  eliangc 
their  purpose  aud  be  book  agents,  public  lecturers,  or 
politicians.  Let  the  case  be  very  desperate  before 
you  do  that — a  dernier  ressort.  It  will  not  be  out  of 
place  for  me  to  remind  them  that  the  world  has 
been  wagging  aloug  so  far  without  them,  and  even 
now  it  is  not  calling  very  lustily  for  them  to  come; 
and  if  they  do  succeed,  as  I  earnestly  hope,  they  will 
have  to  fight  for  it. 

If  I  were  to  undertake  to  give  them  any  advice 
as  to  how  they  can  best  succeed,  it  would  have  to  be 
in  such  a  general  way  that  it  would  apply  as  well  to 
any  other  profession  as  to  that  of  medicine.  This 
grows  out  of  the  fact  that  I  know  so  little  of  medical 
science.  It  is  not  because  the  doctor  is  like  other 
professional  men  ;  between  them  and  the  other  men 
of  science  there  is  a  difference,  a  very  considerable 
difference.  I  can  not  exactly  describe  it.  But 
everybody  can  tell  a  doctor  when  they  see  him  and 
hear  him.  There  is  an  indescribable  something  out- 
side of  the  drug-store  odor  that  conveys  to  the  dis- 
cerning mind  on  sight  that  he  is  a  dispenser  of  pills. 
It  may  be  his  inability  to  conceal  his  inner  con- 
sciousness that  he  knows  more  about  us  than  we 
know  about  ourselves  that  gives  him  a  kind  of  ele- 
vated tone  or  manner.  Possibly  the  swallowing  and 
digesting  of  the  large  and  mysterious  words,  in  and 
under  which  are  concealed  the  depths  of  medical 
science,  unconsciously  change  the  manner  of  the  men. 
If  it  be  true  that  we  become  like  what  we  feed  on, 
that  of  course  would  make  a  difference.  Or  it  may 
be  that  he  is  the  first  man  with  us  when  we  are  born, 


230  The  Doctor. 

and  the  last  man  with  us  when  wo  die,  that  lends  to 
him  an  air  of  importance  that  he  can  not  entirely 
repress,  and  makes  his  profession  known  on  sight. 

The  press,  the  politician,  the  Presidential  boom- 
maker,  may  pretend,  in  a  sort  of  mythical  way,  to 
have  felt  the  public  pulse,  but  with  the  doctor  it  is 
an  actual  reality.  To  common  mortals  is  allowed  the 
privilege  of  hearing  the  music,  the  truth  and  false- 
hood, of  the  human  tongue ;  but,  in  addition  to  all 
that,  the  doctor  has  the  right  of  seeing  the  author 
of  all  tlie  racket  in  the  world,  and  also  may  inspect 
its  very  coating.  All  these  things  together,  and  many 
more  that  might  be  added,  make  the  doctor  different 
from  other  men,  so  that  it  is  not  an  easy  task  for 
an  outsider — a  mere  layman — to  draw  a  picture  of 
the  model  doctor;  to  point  these  new  disciples  of 
Esculapius  to  the  right  road  to  success. 

The  world  is  full  of  failures.  The  highways  and 
byways  of  life  are  strewn  with  human  wrecks  who 
have  undertaken  to  do  something  and  failed.  The 
chief  reason  for  this  is,  that  men  choose  their  profes- 
sion, not  because  of  their  fitness  for  its  requirement 
or  their  aptitude  for  its  duties,  but  rather  because  of 
the  honorable  character  of  the  profession,  and  to  be- 
come a  member  of  it  will  give  them  standing  and 
influence  with  their  fellow-men.  The  profession 
ought  to  choose  the  man,  and  not  the  man  the  pro- 
fession. It  is  better  to  be  a  brakeman  on  a  railroad 
and  do  it  well,  than  to  be  a  brakeman  on  the  car  of 
human  progress  by  blundering  at  something  that 
you  do  not  and  never  will  do  well — a  work  for 
which  you  have  no  natural  gifts — simply  to  gratify 


The  Doctor.  231 

an  ainlntion  to  be  called  ''Doctor"  by  your  neigh- 
bors. 

Take  a  young  man  Avith  a  right  level  head,  a 
keen  and  discriminating  judgment,  with  good  sound 
body,  and  one  whose  common  sense  holds  the  balance 
of  power  and  dominates  over  his  self-conceit,  and  I 
can  see  no  reason,  if  he  acquaints  himself  with  the 
mysteries  of  medical  science,  why  he  will  not  be  a 
successful  physician.  It  must  be  the  profession  of 
his  choice,  and  he  must  have  a  consuming  ambition 
to  stand  in  the  front  rank.  He  must  not  allow  his 
natural  powers  to  be  enervated  by  laziness,  nor  must 
he  impair  his  physical,  mental,  or  moral  power  by  bad 
habits.  In  addition  to  all  that,  he  must  be  a  gentle- 
man in  the  very  broadest  sense  of  the  word.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  average  doctor  will  not  measure  up 
to  this  high  standard.  That  may  be  so.  Yet  he 
ought  to  do  so.  His  relations  to  society  and  the  re- 
sponsible nature  of  his  noble  profession  demand  it 
of  him. 

The  medical  profession  is  exposed  to  peculiar 
temptations,  and  the  doctor  ought  to  be  strong  in 
manly  purposes  in  order  at  all  times  to  be  able  to  suc- 
cessfully resist  them.  Among  other  temptations  is  that 
5f  being  pedantic.  Medical  knowledge  is  not  general 
among  the  people.  When  we  boast  of  the  general 
diffusion  of  science  among  the  masses,  we  must  ex- 
cept therapeutics. 

We  all  know  something  of  law,  and  under  our 
liberal  and  glorious  constitution  in  Indiana,  if  we  have 
a  good  moral  character,  we  may  practice  law  at  the 
bar      That  clause   in  the  constitution  was  evidently 


232  The  Doctor. 

placed  there  under  the  presiimi)ti()n  that  there  was 
such  a  general  diffusion  of  legal  knowledge  among 
the  masses  of  men,  that  any  man  of  good  character 
should  practice  law  if  he  w^anted  to  do  so.  If  he  be 
a  voter,  character  is  the  only  test  to  become  a 
lawyer.  The  constitution  of  the  State  being  thus  a 
protecting  segis,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
the  lawyers  of  Indiana  are  men  of  such  high  char- 
acter and  exalted  worth;  and  when  we  behold  the 
characterless  bars  of  our  neighboring  States,  we  are 
inclined  to  self-glorification. 

The  people  are  at  the  same  time  protected  from 
the  pedantry  of  the  bar;  for  the  line  of  demarkation 
between  the  lawyers  and  the  common  people  is  so 
dim  and  indistinct  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  de- 
termine w4iere  the  lawyers  end  and  w'here  the  people 
begin.  It  is  entirely  unsafe  for  a  lawyer  in  any 
presence  to  assume  that  he  is  the  only  lawyer  pres- 
ent, and  that  he  possesses  more  legal  learning  than  his 
neighbors. 

An  so  it  is  in  theology.  Some  of  the  laymen, 
even  if  they  never  put  on  any  sort  of  cloth,  can  talk 
as  flippantly  about  creeds  and  dogmas,  and  give  you 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  of  the  pivotal  words  of  their 
belief  as  accurately  as  if  they  had  been  born  in 
Judea,  educated  at  Athens,  and  spent  all  their  leisure 
hours  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel.  The  preacher  has  less 
temptation  to  be  pedantic.  And  even  if  he  is  tempted, 
be  is  better  able  to  resist,  for  the  reason  that  he  is 
constantly  preaching  to  us  to  resist  temptation,  and 
therefore  has  the  subject  constantly  before  him,  and 
even  sleeps  with  his  armor  on. 


The  Doctor.  233 

But  the  doctor  lias  none  of  tliese  helj).s.  The 
people  know  less  about  what  he  knows  than  anything 
else.  He  may  be  said  to  have  a  corner  on  thera- 
peutics, and  the  temptation  to  be  pedantic  is  very 
strong — too  often  too  strong  for  the  doctor.  His 
contact  with  his  fellow-men  discloses  the  fact  that 
they  are  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  things  he  knows 
so  well;  and,  standing  on  the  elevated  platform  and 
looking  around  at  the  vast  plain  of  therapeutical  ig- 
norance beneath  him,  he  would  have  to  be  almost 
more  than  human  if  he  did  not  indulge  in  a  little 
medical  pyrotechnics — did  not  illuminate  the  dark- 
ness with  a  few  medical  sky-rockets,  explode  a  few 
technical  shells,  and  burn  a  few  Roman-candles — for 
the  admiration  of  his  fellow-men. 

As  he  looks  on  them,  a  feeling  of  commiseration 
takes  possession  of  his  cultivated  mind.  He  sees  be- 
fore him  the  mechanic,  who  knoAvs  all  about  his 
engine  or  his  machinery,  what  it  can  do  in  all  its 
parts,  and  what  is  the  power  in  the  aggregate;  but 
the  poor  man  does  not  know  how  many  bones  he  has, 
or  their  names.  He  is  not  even  aware  of  the  fact 
that  he  could  not  shake  hands  with  a  neighbor  if  it 
were  not  for  his  pectoralis  and  deltoid  muscles;  and 
could  not  take  off  his  cap,  and  give  three  cheers  for 
his  candidate,  but  for  his  subscapularis  and  his  spina  • 
tus.  The  farmer  can  tell  you  all  about  a  horse,  cow, 
or  a  hog,  but  he  knows  but  little  about  how  he  is 
put  up  himself.  He  knows  what  is  good  for  his 
stock — what  will  fatten  them  the  fastest,  and  make 
them  the  most  thrifty  and  valuable;  and  while  they 
are  healthy  and  flourishing  under  his  care  and  atteu- 


234  The  Doctor. 

tion,  ho  hiuiself  will  bo  howling  with  nouralgia,  or 
groaning  with  dyspepsia,  or  doiiblod  up  with  rheuma- 
tism. He  commits  his  case  as  blindly  and  iguorantly 
to  the  doctor  as  his  animals  do  to  him,  and  the  result 
is  often  more  complimentary  to  the  farmers  than  to 
the  doctors.  The  reason  is,  that  the  farmer  does  not 
understand  the  mysterious  process  of  digestion — does 
not  know  what  he  ought  to  eat;  and,  together  with 
the  politician,  the  lawyer,  and  the  mechanic,  is  too 
often  sadly  mistaken  as  to  what  he  ought  to  drink. 
It  is  not  therefore  a  matter  of  surprise  that  some  of 
the  weaker  members  of  the  medical  profession  fre- 
quently forget  themselves,  and  sometimes  make  us 
common  mortals  feel  our  ignorance  by  an  unneces- 
sary display  of  the  profundity  of  their  acquirements. 
I  made  this  discovery  when  I  was  practicing  law, 
and  also  by  my  contact  with  army  surgeons  during 
the  war.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  my  duty 
called  me  to  the  army  hospital  at  Jefferson  City,  Mis- 
souri. It  was  my  first  visit  to  such  a  place,  and  my 
sympathies  were  all  aroused  at  the  wretched  condi- 
tion of  the  men;  and  I  sought  out  the  surgeon,  to 
see  what  could  be  done  to  make  it  better  and  pleas- 
anter  for  the  sick  "soldier.  I  found  the  surgeon  in  his 
tent,  all  blazing  with  buttons,  shoulder-straps,  and 
belts  and  sashes  ;  for  this  was  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  wore  the  uniform  of 
the  army  and  navy  too.  I  asked  him  what  was  the 
principal  disease  of  the  sick  soldiers.  He  looked 
down  on  me  with  a  pitying  look,  and  told  me  it  was 
nostalgia.  After  a  painful  silence  of  some  minutes 
I  gathered   up  courage   to  ask   him   if  it  was  couta- 


The  Doctor.  235 

gious,  and  he  replied  that  it  Avas  not  infectious,  and 
was  only  partly  contagious.  I  at  once  wrote  my  wife 
that  I  had  reached  Jefferson  City  feeling  very  well, 
but  had  been  to  the  army  hospital,  where  the  nostal- 
gia was  prevailing,  that  it  was  partially  contagious, 
and  that  I  was  feeling  badly.  She  hastened  to  our 
family  physician  to  know  what  nostalgia  meant,  and 
he  told  .her  it  meant  home-sickness. 

Doctors  frequently  have  to  be  called  as  experts — 
men  of  science,  to  give  their  professional  opinion  on 
a  given  state  of  facts — to  aid  in  the  administration  of 
justice.  Take  a  case  where  some  combative  individ- 
ual has  had  his  nose  broken  and  his  eye  blackened  in 
a  street  fight.  The  party  who  committed  this  breach 
of  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State  is  arrested,  and 
on  trial  before  a  jury  of  his  peers  (perhaps  his  supe- 
riors) ;  and  the  town  surgeon  is  called  in  to  testify  as 
to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  injury,  so  that  even- 
handed  justice  may  be  meted  out  to  the  guilty  culprit. 
Now,  if  the  surgeon  is  one  of  the  weaker  class,  and 
wants  to  take  this  opportunity  to  spread  himself,  he 
Avill  look  as  wise  as  an  owl,  and  wull  deliver  himself 
in  the  words  and  figures  following,  to  wit:  "I  have 
made  a  most  careful  diagnosis  of  this  case,  and  I  find 
the  levator  labii  superioris  nasi  is  separated  from  the 
superior  maxillary  bone ;  that  the  tegumentary  are- 
olar tissue  is  very  much  inflamed,  which  seriously  in- 
volves the  orbicularis  palpebrarum,  and  there  is  a 
slight  loosening  of  the  multicuspidati." 

The  lawyer  will  endeavor  to  look  as  if  he  under- 
stood it  perfectly  ;  but  he  betrays  a  painful  conscious- 
ness  that  the  jury  does  not  take  it  all  in,  and  so  he 


236  The  Doctor. 

ventures  to  ask  the  siirgeoji :  "  How  did  you  find  the 
eye  of  the  j^rosecuting  witness?"  and  ventures  to  ad- 
monish the  surgeon  that  the  jury  are  not  quite  up  to  "  us 
professional  men,"  and  to  speak  jilainly  so  they  may 
understand.  The  surgeon  replies  :  "  I  found  on  exam- 
ination a  contusion  of  the  integuments  under  the  orbit, 
■with  extravasation  of  blood,  and  the  ecchymosis  of 
the  surrounding  cellular  tissue,  which  was  in  a  tume- 
fied state,  with  abrasion  of  the  cuticle." 

The  very  last  case  I  had  in  court  as  a  lawyer,  some 
years  ago,  M^as  a  suit  against  a  doctor  for  malpractice. 
The  witnesses  were  nearly  all  })hyscians,  and  they 
kindly  took  possession  of  the  case.  The  plaintiff  and 
defendant  were  soon  lost  sight  of,  and  the  issue  was 
changed  to  a  contest  between  the  Allopathic  and  Ec- 
lectic systems  of  medicine  and  surgery.  The  court- 
room became  blue  from  the  firing  and  explosion  of 
the  most  immense  technical  terms  from  these  men  of 
science.  The  jury  became  so  bewildered  and  dazed 
that  they  brought  in  a  verdict  of  but  one  cent  dam- 
ages for  my  client,  and  failed  to  make  any  finding 
whatever  as  to  the  merits  of  the  Allopathic  and  Ec- 
lectics, so  that  the  people  of  my  county  are  still  in 
doubt  as  to  which  is  the  best.  Some  are  for  one,  and 
some  are  for  the  otlier.  I  became  so  desperate  that  I 
accepted  an  office  under  the  Government,  and  will 
never  return  to  the  practice  of  law  unless  driven  to  it 
by  sheer  necessity. 

If  I  fail  to  accomplish  anything  more  by  this  ad- 
dress than  to  prevent  these  young  gentlemen,  who 
have  just  graduated  and  are  about  to  enter  on  their 
professional    career,   from    this    inexcusable    habit   of 


The  Doctor.  287 

using  technical  terms  when  addressing  persons  wlio 
do  not  understand  them,  I  will  have  done  a  good  serv- 
ice to  them  and  to  the  medical  profession. 

Nobody  knows  better  than  the  experienced  phy- 
sician long  in  the  practice  that  many  of  the  ills 
people  complain  of  are  merely  imaginary.  People 
often  send  for  the  doctor  when  there  is  really  nothing 
the  matter  with  them ;  and,  of  course,  then  medicine 
would  be  an  injury  rather  than  a  benefit.  But  if  the 
doctor  were  honestly  and  frankly  to  tell  them  so, 
they  would  become  offended  and  dismiss  him,  and 
send  for  another  who  would  declare  them  very  sick. 
Now  a  little  pedantry  might  not  be  amiss.  If  the 
doctor  were  to  tell  them  that  he  would  give  them 
some  prepared  chalk,  the  patient  would  be  disgusted 
at  the  mildness  of  the  remedy  and  at  the  attempt  of 
the  physician  to  belittle  his  sickness. 

But  let  the  same  thing  be  administered  under  the 
name  of  Creta  prccparata,  and  let  him  prepare  a  wash 
for  the  body  of  the  patient,  in  which  he  puts  a 
proper  proportion  of  Supo  mollis;  and  then  the 
treatment  will  win.  But  the  fact  must  be  concealed 
from  the  imaginary  sniferer  that  Sapo  mollis  is  noth- 
ing but  soft  soap.  A  litttle  Sapo  mollis  may  be  used 
figuratively  as  well  as  literally  with  the  same  excel- 
lent effect. 

The  intimate  and  mysterious  connection  betv/een 
the  human  mind  and  the  human  body  will  work  out 
just  such  strange  and  wonderful  results ;  and  nobody 
understands  it  better  or  sees  it  oftener  than  the  intel- 
ligent physician.  An  innocent  crumb  of  bread  given 
to  a  man  in  health  will  produce  no  perceptible  effect; 


238  The  Doctor. 

yet  if  the  doctor  will  examine  the  pulse  and  look  at 
the  tongue^  and  then  put  on  an  anxious  and  alarmed 
expression,  and  in  a  capsule  give  him  a  crumb  of 
bread  and  tell  him  it  is  Mica  ipanis, — it  will  be  very 
apt  to  produce  great  internal  commotion. 

If  we  have  a  national  pie  in  this  country — a  pie 
around  which  people  of  all  kinds  and  conditions  rally — , 
it  is  the  pumpkin-pie.  If  a  pumpkin  issue  should  be 
raised  in  politics,  the  party  that  stood  by  the  pump- 
kin would  carry  th(!  country  by  an  immense  majority. 
But  palatable  as  it  is,  if  your  physician  could  per- 
suade you  that  you  need  an  emetic,  and  a  strong  one 
at  that,  and  would  administer  a  table-spoonful  of  the 
same  pie  and  have  you  swallow  it  quick,  with  a  glass 
of  water  immediately  afterward  to  take  the  bad  taste 
out  of  your  mouth,  and  tell  you  it  was  Cacurbita 
pepo, — the  chances  are  that  it  would  turn  the  patient 
inside  out  in  a  very  brief  time. 

The  doctor  must  understand  psychology  as  well 
as  physiology.  But  this  opens  too  broad  a  field 
for  this  limited  consideration,  and  has  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  doctor  goes  to  every  home  in  the  land. 
In  many  of  these  he  is  the  most  intelligent  man — the 
greatest  man  that  crosses  the  threshold  of  the  humble 
dwelling.  To  all  such  households  he  is  a  sort  of 
deity.  He  comes  to  them  from  a  world,  the  artificial 
distinction  of  which  has  excluded  them.  He  is  a  sort 
of  connecting  link  between  them  and  the  far-off 
regions  of  wealth,  culture,  and  comfort.  He  has, 
therefore,  opportunities  for  instructing,  elevating,  and 
civiliziu":  mankind  that  no  otlier  man  has. 

As  he  is  with  them  in  their  anxieties  and  sorrows, 


The  Doctor.  230 

he  obtains  control  and  influence  over  them  that  will 
make  him  a  mighty  power  for  good,  if  he  will  avail  him- 
self of  his  chances.-  He  ought  not  only  to  be  a  gentle- 
man, but  he  ought  to  have  a  tender,  philanthropic  heart 
and  a  patient,  loving  spirit.  He  ought  to  so  conduct 
himself  in  their  presence  as  to  create  in  them  a  desire 
to  be  like  him  ;  to  make  them  feel  that  culture  and 
refinement  are  not  heartless  and  opposing  forces  to 
them,  but  real,  sympathizing  friends.  His  own  good 
life  and  habits  should  be  a  constant  argument  in  favor 
of  temperance,  cleanliness,  and  true  manliness,  and  a 
perpetual  rebuke  to  the  vulgarity  of  vice. 

If  he  be  a  man  intensely  interested  in  the  common 
welfare  (and  no  other  sort  of  man  ought  to  be  a  phy- 
sician), he  may  be  the"  peace-maker  between  Capital 
and  Labor,  and  bring  these  contending  forces,  that 
always  ought  to  be  the  best  of  friends,  to  a  better 
understanding  and  to  a  fair  and  square  adjustment  of 
their  respective  rights.  He  may  be  a  power  to  pre- 
vent anarchy,  and  an  effective  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  communism.  While  Wealth  may  turn  up  its  nose 
at  Poverty,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Poverty, 
too,  has  a  nose  that  it  may  scornfully  elevate  at 
AVealth. 

There  are  well-grounded  prejudices  to  overcome 
with  the  one  as  well  as  the  other.  No  one  can  do  that 
more  effectually  than  the  doctor.  As  the  representa- 
tive of  culture,  wealth,  and  refinement,  he  enters  the 
homes  of  the  poor  and  lowly ;  and  not  only  cures 
their  ills,  but  he  pours  into  their  depressed  hearts  a 
generous  and  stimulating  sympathy;  so  that  he  can, 
better  than  any  one  else,  soften  their  hard  and  preju- 


240  The  Doctor. 

diced  notions,  and  banish  the  hate  from  their  souls 
that  they  had  against  all  those  more  fortunate  than 
they. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  doctor  can  not  be 
more  effectively  re-enforced  in  the  good  work.  These 
people  will  not  be  patronized.  They  will  not  allow 
themselves  to  be  treated  as  proper  objects  for  mission- 
ary effort.  It  is  true,  something  may  be  done  in  this 
way,  but  it  requires  the  utmost  tact  and  wisdom  to  be 
effectiv-e. 

If  the  doctor  is  a  better  patriot  than  partisan,  as 
he  ought  to  be,  he  can  undo  the  mischief  of  the 
l)lathering  demagogue  who  wants  the  votes  of  these 
people,  and  attempts  to  secure  their  support  by  falsely 
pretending  that  he  will  do  something  to  better  their 
condition. 

The  model  doctor  ought  to  understand  the  art  of 
cooking,  and  teach  it  to  his  patrons.  In  this  grand 
country  of  ours,  we  have  more  good  things  to  eat,  a 
better  variety  and  a  better  quality,  than  any  other 
nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  disagreeable 
fact  exists,  that  the  great  mass  of  our  people,  rich  as 
well  as  poor,  do  not  understand  the  high  art  of  cook- 
ing food  and  preparing  it  for  the  table.  The  cook- 
book ought  to  be  one  of  the  standard  works  in  all 
the  medical  colleges,  and  a  chair  in  the  dissecting- 
room  set  apart  for  this  important  branch.  I  am 
aware  that  this  suggestion  will  be  received  with  jeers. 
I  have  the  consolation  that  all  advanced  thought  has 
met  a  like  reception  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  But 
hear  me  anyway.  Should  not  our  physicians  be 
taught  the    high    art    of   preventing  disease    as  well 


The  Doctor.  241 

as  cubing  it?  And  some  plan  ought  to  be  de- 
vised whereby  they  would  be  paid  better  fees  for  the 
jirevcntion  than  for  the  cure.  It  woukl  astonish  the 
world  if  a  catalogue  of  the  "  ills  that  flesh  is  heir 
to  "  which  had  their  origin  in  the  vast  amount  of  in- 
digestible stuff  that  we  eat,  resulting  from  bad  cook- 
ing, could  be  prejiared  and  published. 

Look  at  that  dejected  man.  His  eye  is  dim,  and 
his  step  uncertain;  yet  he  is  not  old.  He  has  a 
hopeless  and  dissatisfied  expression ;  yet  he  is  not 
poor.  He  is  rich.  His  epidermis  (I  allude  to  his 
skin)  looks  like  old  gold.  You  would  conclude  that 
his  misery  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  his  mother-in- 
law  refuses  to  live  with  him,  or  that  he  has  been 
speculating  in  Chicago  and  is  long  on  wheat  and 
short  on  cash,  or  that  he  had  been  beaten  for  Con- 
gress at  the  last  election.  Yet  none  of  these  things 
are  the  sources  of  his  trouble.  His  domestic  rela- 
tions are  as  perfect  as  such  an  institution  can  be. 
He  does  not  deal  in  margins,  for  the  reason  that  he 
is  a  reader  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal  and  is  vir- 
tuous. He  was  never  a  candidate  for  any  office,  for 
he  despises  politics  as  he  does  almost  everything  else. 
The  honest  truth  is,  that  he  has  always  had  too  much 
saleratus  in  his  biscuit.  His  mind  and  body  are 
comj>letely  poisoned,  and  it  is  that,  and  not  his 
wealth,  that  causes  him  to  look  like  old  gold,  and 
makes  his  soul  as  sad  and  heavy  as  the  biscuits  ^upon 
which  he  has  been  fed. 

The  doctor  should  teach  us  also  in  regard  to  quan- 
tity as  well  as  quality  of  our  food.  The  lovely 
daughter  has  graduated   at   Vassar.     Her  education 

1(3 


242  The  Doctor. 

is  finished.  After  vowing  eternal  friendship  for  all 
her  class-mates,  and  promising  to  write  to  each  and  aPi 
of  them,  she  takes  the  train  for  home.  She  is  so  ex- 
cited with  parting  wiih  the  dear  ones  at  college  and 
with  the  prospect  of  meeting  the  dearer  ones  at  home, 
that  she  can  eat  nothing  at  the  railway  limch-statiou 
except  a  section  of  a  cold  mince-pie  and  a  hard-boiled 
egg,  one  half-dozen  fried  and  a  like  Dumber  of  raw 
oysters,  and  a  pickled  })ig's-foot.  On  the  train  she 
may  have  eaten  a  pint  of  ])eanuts,  one  half-dozen  ba- 
nanas, a  few  apples  and  oranges;  she  therefore  comes 
home  hungry.  Maternal  love  has  anticipated  that, 
and  a  bountiful,  warm  supper  awaits  her.  Home 
cooking,  after  her  boarding-school  diet  and  continu- 
ous fasting,  whets  her  appetite,  and  she  eats  a  good 
square  meal.  The  stomach  rebels;  and  the  midnight- 
emetic  of  the  doctor  reveals  the  quantity  and  quality 
of  her  daily  food,  and  furnishes  the  statistics  for  the 
above  statement. 

Some  years  ago,  while  sitting  in  a  barber's  chair 
at  Sioux  City,  la.,  the  barber  told  me,  among  other 
things,  that  the  colored  children  of  that  city  were 
most  of  them  sick ;  and  he  also  informed  me  that 
he  was  a  doctor,  and  had  been  called  upon  to  exam- 
ine and  treat  these  cases.  I  said  to  him:  "Doctor, 
what  is  the  matter  with  the  colored  children  ?"  He 
said  he  "  soon  found  out  the  cause,  and  told  their 
parents."  "What  did  you  tell  them?"  I  asked  with 
breathless  interest.  "  I  told  them,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  that  they  did  not  put  diet  enough  in  their  food.'* 
Evidently,  the  Vassar  girl,  as  well  as  a  great  many 
other  people,  put  too  much  diet  in  their  food.     Here 


The  Doctor.  243 

opens  a  wide  field  for  reform,  aud  the  doctor  must 
take  the  lead. 

The  temperance  reformers  ought  to  fall  in  at 
once  and  re-enforce  the  physician.  I  take  the  occa- 
sion to  boldly  assert  that  bad  cooking  fries  and  stews 
out  the  stimulating  quality  of  our  food  so  that  the 
grog-shop  is  often  sought  to  supply  the  want.  Good 
cooking  will  go  a  long  way  towards  arresting  the  de- 
sire for  strong  drink  and  promoting  the  temperance 
cause. 

As  the  doctors  are  very  particular  to  tell  us  what 
we  may  and  may  not  eat  when  we  are  sick,  why  not 
have  them  qualify  themselves  to  tell  us  what  we 
should  eat,  and  show  us  how  to  prepare  it  when  we 
are  in  good  health?  The  physicians  should  qualify 
themselves  to  take  the  lead  in  all  sanitary  measures, 
and  should  have  full  powers  from  the  State  to  carry 
into  operation  every  means  that  will  promote  the 
public  health. 

In  this  flat  State  of  Indiana  (I  mean  the  land  and 
not  the  people),  the  thousands  of  miles  of  tile  ditches, 
that  lie  buried  in  our  swamp-lands,  have  carried  off 
not  only  the  surplus  and  stagnant  water,  but  ague 
enough  to  shake  the  Avorld  if  it  were  all  let  loose  at 
once  on  the  earth.  The  country  doctor  ought  to  be 
a  whole  Board  of  Health  in  himself,  with  full  power 
to  compel  the  drainage  of  every  pestilence-breeding 
pond  in  the  circle  and  range  of  his  practice. 

I  want  a  wider  field  of  usefulness  for  the  medical 
profession.  That  high  calling  has  too  long  been 
kept  far  inside  of  the  limits  of  grand  possibilities.  I 
desire  this  for  tlie    reason   already  given,  and    for  the 


244  The  Doctor. 

additional  fact  that  there  ha.s  not  been  that  perfect 
harmony,  that  sweet  brotherly  love,  that  ought  to 
characterize  the  members  of  a  profession  set  apart  to 
the  exalted  art  of  healing  human  ills.  The  restless 
activity  of  the  medical  mind,  the  division  into  dif- 
ferent schools,  and  the  limited  sphere  of  medical  ac- 
tivity and  usefulness,  may  in  part  account  for  this  uu- 
harmony.  This  wider  field  that  I  have  so  imper- 
fectly pointed  out  would  call  their  minds,  and  con- 
centrate their  efforts  more  especially  each  to  his  own 
affairs,  and  Allopathy  would  smooth  its  wrinkled 
front,  and  smile  on  Homeopathy,  and  the  Eclectic 
■would  choose  the  sweet,  smooth  waters  of  Hydropathy, 
and  all  would  go  as  merry  as  marriage-bells. 

Gentlemen  of  the  graduating  class :  In  Dickens's 
"  Bleak  House,"  the  wife  of  a  physician  says  of  her 
husband:  "I  never  walk  out  with  my  husband  but 
I  hear  the  people  bless  him,  I  never  go  into  a  house 
of  any  degree  but  I  hear  his  praises  or  see  them  in 
grateful  eyes.  I  never  lie  down  at  night  but  I  know 
that,  in  the  course  of  that  day,  he  has  alleviated  pain 
and  soothed  some  fellow-creature  in  time  of  need.  I 
know  from  the  beds  of  those  who  are  past  recovery, 
thanks  have  often,  often  gone  up  in  the  last  hour  for 
his  patient  ministrations." 

May  such  a  eulogy  be  given  to  you  in  your  pro- 
fessional life  !  I  hope  when  you  shall  have  traveled  a 
third  of  a  century  over  the  road,  you  may  be  able  to 
look  back  over  its  trials  and  sorrows,  with  the 
sweet  consciousness  that  you  have  been  a  constant 
helper  to  your  fellow-men. 


The  Doctor.  245 

The  problem  of  civilizing  and  elevating  the  hu- 
man race  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  one.  The  process 
is  slow,  and  must  necessarily  be  so.  The  reformer 
as  a  specialist  is  a  failure.  Every  man  should  be  a 
reformer  in  the  sphere  of  his  own  life's  work.  His 
first  duty  is  to  begin  on  his  own  life,  and  bring  the 
highest  type  of  man  out  of  himself.  Then,  as  he 
comes  in  contact  with  humanity  in  the  narrower  or 
wider  circles  of  his  life's  destiny,  there  is  healing  in 
his  touch.  There  is  no  profession  or  calling  in  life 
where  manly  qualities  may  be  such  a  power  for  good 
as  the  one  you  have  chosen,  and  this  day  enter  upon 
its  responsible  duties. 

Remember  that  the  physician,  w^ho  is  the  full  pat- 
tern of  a  man  in  the  highest  and  broadest  sense  of 
the  word,  does  more  healing  by  his  noble  and  pure 
life  than  he  does  by  his  drugs.  *  Such  a  physician  is 
the  most  important  factor  in  civilization.  As  suffer- 
ing and  heart-broken  humanity  look  to  you  for  help, 
you  can  wipe  tears  from  the  faces  of  the  weeping, 
and  ])laut  new  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  despairing; 
then  indeed  will  your  lives  be  a  grand  success.  With- 
out that,  it  will  not  be  high  and  noble  living,  but  mere 
low  and  selfish  existence.  He  has  never  lived  who 
has  not  blessed  others.  He  may  have  had  all  the  sensu- 
ous pleasures  that  riches  could  purchase  for  him;  he 
may  have  had  every  want  met;  he  may  have  had  all 
the  sweet  odors  of  flattery  that  float  around  those  in 
high  places;  but  his  barren  soul  will  curse  him,  and 
he  will  flee  like  a  skulking  coward  before  the  lashes 
of  his  outraged  conscience,  and  hide  himself  at  last  in 


246  The  Doctor. 

an  uulionored  grave.  Life,  with  its  joys  and  sorrows, 
temptations  and  trinuiphs,  its  false  lights  and  fixed 
stars,  is  all  before  you. 

I  know  I  voice  not  only  the  sentiments  of  the 
faculty,  but  the  large  assembly  of  friends  who  have 
come  hither  to  see  you  take  your  degree  from  tliis 
honored  institution,  when  I  express  the  hope  that  you 
may  choose  wisely  and  well  your  path.  May  eacli 
and  every  one  of  you  make  life  a  grand  success !  In 
closing,  allow  me  to  use  the  sentiment  of  one  of 
Indiana's  most  gifted  poets,  John  G.  Chaffee : 

"  Worker  and  watcher  in  the  true  man's  day, 
Duty  and  Conscience  keeping  side  by  side, 
God  speaks,  and  Duty's  swift  feet  glide 
Into  well-doing's  upward  leading  way  ; 
And  Conscience  comes,  with  fair  benignant  smile, 
When  Duty's  work  is  done,  and  daylight  goes: 
Sitting  beside,  it  lulls  to  sweet  repose, 
Sealing  approval  on  the  heart  the  wiiile.  "" 

O  concord  sweet !     Would'st  thou  life's  measure  heap 
Full  to  the  brim  of  good  ?    Then  each  good  find, 
And  do,  let  it  be  great  or  small,  nor  cease 
Thy  diligence  to  cheer  and  bless  mankind ; 
And  thou  shalt  ever  in  thy  own  heart  keep 
The  gentle,  sweet-voiced,  white-winged  dove  of  peace." 


PUBLIC  OPINION. 

AS  THIS  institution  of  learning  has  for  her  motto 
"Christianity  and  Culture,"  it  should  be  the  high 
purpose  of  every  student  to  be  imbued  with  the  spirit 
-nculcated  by  this  motto  in  all  his  coming  life. 

To  constitute  the  perfect  man,  these  two  grand 
elevating  agencies  should  be  combined.  Culture 
without  Christianity  might  enable  the  student  in  the 
contest  in  life  to  fight  a  good  warfare  for  himself 
alone.  He  might  fill  his  coffers  with  treasures;  he 
might  attain  distinction,  and  have  his  name  enrolled 
among  the  great,  and  receive  the  plaudits  of  his 
fellow-men.  It  would  be  mere  personal  triumph  ; 
and  it  might  be  that  when  he  died,  and  his  life's 
work  was  done,  the  world  would  be  worse  because 
he  had  been  sent  into  it. 

His  culture,  in  such  a  case,  would  be  a  calamity. 
But  if  the  principles  of  Christianity  animate  and 
control  his  life,  he  is  lifted  out  of  the  limited  sphere 
of  mere  selfish  ends  and  aims,  and  with  his  well- 
di;illed  powers  and  developed  capabilities  he  makes 
the  contest  for  self  subordinate,  and  secondary  to  the 
noble  purpose  of  blessing  the  human  race  in  his 
deeds,  in  his  example,  in  his  whole  life.  The  thor- 
oughly cultivated  man,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  presents  in  his  life  and  character  such  beauty 

Delivered  before  the  literarj*  societies  at  Franklin  College, 
Indiana. 

247 


248  Public  Opinion. 

and  harmony,  such  complete  symmetry,  as  makes  him 
the  very  highest  type  of  true  manhood  and  the 
noblest  work  of  God. 

The  heathen  poets  and  philosophers,  their  most 
highly  cultivated  orators  and  statesmen,  when  viewed 
through  the  flattering  perspective  of  a  score  of  cen- 
turies and  the  glamour  that  time  and  distance  lend 
to  objects,  excite  our  wonder  and  admiration.  But 
when  we  come  to  know  their  inner  life  and  the  aims 
and  purposes  to  which  they  devoted  their  cultivated 
powers,  and  compare  them  with  the  cultivated  Chris-  ' 
tians  of  to-day,  they  become  mere  dwarfs  and  pigmies 
by  the  comparison. 

The  senseless  idol  appears  hideous  and  con- 
temptible in  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  ever- 
living  and  true  God.  And  so,  in  no  small  degree,  do 
the  human  powers  appear  purposeless  if  not  illumi- 
nated and  made  glorious  and  godlike  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  consecration  to 
the  work  of  human  redemption,  that  animated  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  the  Christian's  faith. 

Christianity,  with  its  illuminating  power,  reveals 
the  divine  image  stamjjed  on  human  nature,  showing- 
man  not  only  to  be  godlike  in  the  beauty  and  per- 
fection of  his  being,  but  also  demonstrating  the 
truth  of  the  sacred  history  of  the  creation  of  man, 
that  he,  of  all  the  works  of  the  Creator,  is  the 
crowning  glory. 

It  is  then  manifestly  the  duty  of  the  educator  to 
teach  the  true  ethics,  that  there  be  no  divorcement 
of  religion   and  science  in   the   development  of  the 


Public  Opinion.  249 

powers  and  affections  of  the  human  souL*  Tj  bo 
successful  in  this  great  work  he  must  have  a  clear 
and  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  obstacles  and 
hindering  causes  delaying  and  obstructing  the  prog- 
ress of  religion  and  civilization. 

Every  age  and  time  in  human  history  has  pre- 
sented new  and  diifereui  phases  of  opposition  to 
human  progress.  Many  of  these  have  been  but 
transient  and  easily  overcome.  On  this  occasion  I 
propose  to  discuss  the  chief  obstacle  that  has,  in  all 
times  and  ages,  been,  when  adverse  to  progress,  its 
most  formidable  enemy. 

It  is  sometimes  a  friend,  and  then  its  power  for 
good  is  invaluable.  When  it  is  hostile,  it  rears  its 
formidable  front,  bold  and  defiant,  against  all  move- 
ments in  favor  of  reform,  and  declares  hostility  to 
all  innovations  of  the  habits,  conduct,  or  even  the 
thoughts,  of  humanity.  With  imperial  authority,  it 
declares  that,  if  there  be  ills  affecting  the  human 
race,  they  shall  not  be  considered  and  exposed;  that 
if  the  human  mind  be  darkened  by  error  and  preju- 
dice, the  truth  shall  not  come  with  her  light  to 
banish  the  gloom. 

This  enemy,  so  formidable  an  opponent  to  the 
Christian  scholar  in  all  his  efforts  to  elevate  and  en- 
lighten mankind,  is  Public  Opinion;  and  I  have 
chosen  it  for  my  subject  on  this  occasion. 

The  human  race  is  so  bound  together  in  its  social 
organism,  that  public  opinion,  no  matter  how  it  may 
be  formed,  to  the  great  majority  of  humanity,  has 
the  stamp  of  infallibility  and  the  authority  of  divin- 


250  Public  Opinion. 

ity.  Mankind,  generally,  subscribe  without  any 
mental  reservation  to  the  truth  of  the  maxim,  Vox 
populi,  vox  Dei. 

In  this  country,  and  in  all  others  where  the  gov- 
ernment is  in  the  hands  of  the  governed,  it  is  the 
supreme  authority,  a  ruler  above  the  law  and  higher 
than  the  courts.  It  writes  in  the  statute-book  such 
legislation  as  is  in  accord  with  its  royal  pleasure,  and 
repeals  the  law  it  does  not  approve.  If  any  legis- 
lative authority  has  been  guilty  of  the  temerity  of 
enacting  a  law  in  defiance  of  its  objection,  it  forbids 
its  enforcement  by  the  courts,  and  it  remains  a  dead- 
letter  nntil  a  more  obedient  Legislature  shall  atone 
for  the  offense  by  repealing  it. 

In  the  enforcement  of  laws,  not  in  themselves 
offensive  to  public  opinion,  it  declares  who  shall  pay 
the  penalty  and  who  shall  not.  The  law  and  the 
evidence  and  the  court  may  say  to  the  jury  to  con- 
vict the  criminal,  but  if  the  twelve  men,  sworn  to 
try  the  culprit  by  the  law  and  the  evidence,  and  a 
true  verdict  render  therein,  hear  the  voice  of  public 
opinion  declare  for  his  acquittal,  they  promptly  bring 
in  a  verdict  of  "  Not  guilty." 

From  the  throne  of  its  power  it  not  only  regu- 
lates the  conduct  of  humanity,  but  it  issues  its  im- 
perial mandate  declaring  what  men  may  think  and 
speak.  Brave  indeed  is  the  bold  spirit  who  will 
dare  to  defy  its  decree,  and  venture  to  declare  that  his 
opinion  is  better  than  that  of  the  public — braver  in- 
deed than  the  soldier  who  marches  up  to  the  mouth  of 
the  enemy's  guns  amid  the  iron  hail  of  death.  Mill- 
ions have  had  the  physical  courage  to  do  the  one,  while 


Public  Opinion.  251 

but  few  have  had  the  moral  heroism  to  undertake 
the  other. 

Power  is  always  surrounded  with  parasites  and 
sycophantic  flatterers;  but  no  monarch,  nor  even  all 
the  potentates  of  earth,  great  and  small,  have  had 
so  much  adulation  as  this  autocrat.  Sages  and  ])hi- 
losophers  pronounce  him  wise  and  just,  and  poet.'* 
weave  chaplets  of  poetic  beauty  about  his  crown,  and 
rulers  and  statesmen  come  with  a  servile  spirit,  and 
beg  to  be  allowed  to  perform  the  service  of  menials 
to  his  majesty.  The  politician,  the  press,  and  some- 
times the  pulpit,  obey  the  commands  of  public  opinion 
with  the  servility  of  slaves. 

It  becomes  important  to  inquire  into  the  legitimacy 
of  the  claim  of  this  mighty  power  to  rule  and  govern 
in  the  affairs  of  men. 

Are  the  opinions  of  the  masses,  on  the  important 
questions  affecting  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  hu- 
manity, formed  with  such  care  for  the  truth  and  the 
right  as  to  command  the  acceptance  of  their  united 
voice  as  infallible,  to  be  received  without  challenge 
or  question  ?  Do  all  men,  or  even  a  large  majority 
of  the  people,  reason  dispassionately  and  without  bias 
of  judgment,  and  carefully  sift  the  false  from  the 
true?  Does  the  love  for  the  truth,  and  the  desire  to 
promote  it,  so  pervade  the  popular  mind  as  to  over- 
ride all  partisan  and  sectarian  considerations,  to  con- 
quer and  subdue  all  human  passions  and  prejudices, 
so  that  the  individual  contributions  to  the  popular 
judgment  are  divested  of  all  error  and  superstition? 

If  all  these  propositions  may  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  where,  then,  is  the  room  for  progress? 


252  Public  Opinion. 

The  truth  is  eternal  and  unchangeable,  and  the 
right  is  as  immutable  as  the  throne  of  God.  If  pop- 
ular opinion  is  builded  on  the  rock  of  truth,  it  will 
stand  ever  the  same.  If  the  popular  judgment  is 
ever  for  the  right,  then  it  can  not  be  either  revised  or 
modified. 

The  history  of  the  past  overthrows  all  these  as- 
sumptions. The  conservatism  of  to-day  was  the  rad- 
icalism of  yesterday.  The  cherished  opinions  and 
well-settled  convictions  of  the  public  mind,  even  a 
half-century  ago,  on  many  questions  are  to-day,  in 
popular  estimation,  exploded  dogmas,  utterly  unworthy 
of  respect. 

Yet  a  half  a  century  ago  public  opinion  was  as 
imperious  and  impatient  of  contradiction  as  it  is  now. 
It  then,  as  now,  bade  men  bow  the  knee  and  cringe 
in  servile  obedience  to  its  commands. 

In  times  past  it  compelled  men  to  carry  fagots  to 
burn  the  witch,  and  forge  tighter  the  chains  of  the 
slave;  and  compelled  mankind  to  think  and  declare 
that  all  these  things  were  right.  In  lines  of  crimson 
blood  it  wrote  its  approval  of  the  horrid  persecutions 
for  opinion's  sake,  the  very  contemplation  of  which 
sickens  the  reader  of  the  history  of  the  past.  It 
sent  its  encouraging  hosannas  to  the  mighty  monarch 
while  he  pillaged  a  neighboring  power,  and  enslaved 
or  murdered  the  inhabitants  because  they  were  too  few 
to  resist. 

In  all  past  times  the  greatest  wrongs  that  have 
tarnished  the  civilization  of  the  different  periods  and 
ages  have  had  the  support  of  the  popular  favor. 
Crimes  that  are  now  condemned    were  once  sustained 


Public  Opinion.  253 

by  the  popular  jiulgment.  Public  opinion  being 
changeable,  must  of  course  be  fallible.  And  why 
should  it  not  be  so?  It  is  but  the  collected  judgments 
of  the  weak  and  fallible  individuals  which  compose 
the  human  family. 

To  be  enabled  to  properly  estimate  the  value  of  the 
public  judgment,  it  becomes  important  to  inquire  how 
individual  opinions  are  formed,  and  how  each  ever 
reached  the  conclusions  that  became  part  and  parcel 
of  the  public  opinion. 

In  the  first  place,  I  think  it  will  be  conceded 
that  the  great  mass  of  humanity  are  not  inclined  to 
seriously  consider  anything  outside  of  the  circle  of 
their  own  personal  wants  and  comfort,  and  the  pro- 
motion of  their  own  selfish  aims. 

On  all  questions  affecting  humanity,  its  interests 
and  its  hopes,  whether  spiritual  or  temporal,  most 
people  fall  back  on  the  opinions  they  received  at  the 
hearthstone  in  childhood  days,  or  simply  subscribe  to 
the  articles  of  faith  of  the  Church  to  which  they  may 
belong;  and  on  questions  of  government  or  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  citizen,  they  accept  the  dictum 
of  the  political  party  of  which  they  are  partisans  and 
supporters.  Instead  of  earnestly  seeking  for  what  is 
truth  on  all  the  great  questions  pertaining  to  the 
government  of  God  and  the  regulation  of  the  affairs 
of  man,  they  content  tliemselves  by  declaring  that  the 
tvuth  is  ichat  they  believe. 

Another  serious  obstacle,  that  has  ever  deflected 
the  individual  judgment  when  searching  for  the  truth 
and  led  it  astray,  is  the  personal  interest  in  the  result 
of  its  conclusions. 


254  Public  Opinion. 

It  is  not  common  to  find  people  believing  and 
acting  on  a  theory  for  the  truth's  sake,  when  by  so 
doing  they  are  combating  their  own  interest.  Poor, 
weak,  and  selfish  humanity  believe  more  in  them- 
selves than  they  do  in  the  truth  ;  or  rather,  they  are 
not  willing  to  sacrifice  their  own  cause  for  the  cause 
of  truth.  They  require  the  truth  to  accommodate 
itself  to  their  preconceived  opinions  of  theology  and 
politics,  and  must  ever  be  ready  to  subserve  their  in- 
dividual interest.  There  are,  of  course,  many  individ- 
ual exceptions. 

The  great  mass  of  humanity  whose  opinions  make 
up  the  public  opinion,  to  which  so  much  deference  is 
paid,  reach  their  conclusions  in  this  way,  and  of  this 
unsubstantial  material  is  this  potent  agency  regu- 
lating human  affairs.  To  pronounce  it  wise  and  in- 
fallible, is  wickedness;  to  worship  it,  is  heathenish 
idolatry;  to  follow  it,  right  or  wrong,  is  abject 
slavery. 

One  of  the  methods  resorted  to  by  this  despotic 
power  to  maintain  ascendency  is  to  hurl  epithets  at 
the  heads  of  all  who  dare  to  question  vhe  soundness 
of  its  decrees,  and  thus  bring  them  into  public  scorn 
and  contempt. 

Agitator,  fanatic,  "  one-idead  humbug,"  are  the 
names  given  all  such  independent  spirits.  The  ad- 
vantage of  this  mode  of  warfare  is  that  the  whole 
public  may  engage  in  it.  The  bigger  the  fool  the**^ 
better  the  soldier,  if  he  only  have  good  lungs.  He 
can  do  more  service  in  suppressing  an  insurrection 
against  public  opinion  than  the  wisest. 

By  this  mode   of   defense   old   and   long-standing 


Public  Opinion.  255 

abuses  have  been  defended,  and  j)i()us  frauds  have 
been  protected,  and  the  agitators  have  persistently 
fought  on  until  they  have  stirred  the  stagnant  pools  so 
that  the  stench  has  become  intolerable  to  the  public 
nostrils,  and  then  the  remedy  has  been  accepted. 

It  is  these  so-called  fanatics  and  agitators  who 
have  led  us  thus  far  on  the  highway  of  human  prog- 
ress and  our  hope  for  the  future.  The  opinions  of 
these  bold  spirits  are  no  part  of  the  public  opinion. 
On  the  contrary,  their  opinions  are  the  antipodes  to 
that  of  the  people,  and  the  struggle  has  ever  been 
long  and  fierce,  Avhether  they  must  yield  to  the  pub- 
lic or  that  the  masses  will  consent  to  be  led  by  them. 

Public  opinion  without  this  class  would  ever  re- 
main the  same,  and  reform  would  be  an  imj)ossibility. 
I  am  fully  aware  that  the  correctness  of  this  state- 
ment will  be  sharply  questioned. 

No  small  number  of  people  will  confess  the  un- 
soundness of  the  judgment  on  important  questions 
affecting  seriously  the  best  interests  of  the  human 
race,  but  will  refuse  to  aid  the  agitators  to  correct  it, 
for  the  reason  that  they  claim  that  the  public  mind 
is  not  ready  for  the  reform.  They  advise  that  it  is 
better  to  let  matters  remain  as  they  are,  and  in  due 
time  all  will  come  out  right. 

They  seem  to  labor  under  the  delusion  that  there 
is  a  self-purifying  power  in  public  opinion — an  in- 
herent ability  to  cleanse  itself,  separate  and  apart 
from  the  efforts  of  the  agitator,  fully  able  to  work 
out  the  desired  reform,  With  all  such,  all  agitation 
is  premature,  and  must  fail. 

It  is  the  excuse  of  the  lao;o;ard,  and  the  shallow 


256  Public  Opinion. 

plea  of  the  coward.  The  truth  owes  them  nothing. 
They  are  simply  too  indolent  in  action  or  craven  in 
spirit  to  stand  for  the  truth  against  public  sentiment. 
They  are  "dead-heads,"  and  will  ride  on  any  train, 
indifferent  as  to  who  is  the  conductor  or  the  direction 
tliey  travel,  if  they  only  have  a  free  pass.  They 
readily  give  their  assent  to  pid)lic  opinion,  no  matter 
what  it  may  be,  and  so  remain  until  the  majority 
change,  and  then  they  change.  Their  influence  is 
simply  the  negative  power  of  numbers,  and  one  only 
useful  to  ballast  the  ship  of  public  opinion  when  the 
storms  of  agitation  come. 

Another  fact  that  militates  against  the  claim  of 
the  infallibility  of  public  opinion  is,  that  it  is  more  fre- 
quently the  creature  of  passion  than  of  reason. 

How  often  has  it  happened  in  the  history  of 
American  politics  that  the  political  party  having  the 
most  attractive  banners,  and  the  best  music,  and  the 
most  skill  in  appealing  to  the  passions,  prejudice,  and 
selfishness  of  the  voter,  has  for  a  time  commanded  the 
largest  following !  When  in  the  white  heat  of  polit- 
ical excitement,  the  ballot-box  is  placed  before  the 
voters,  and  they  vote,  the  result  is  declared  as  the 
calm  and  deliberate  judgment  of  a  free  and  intelligent 
people. 

The  successful  candidates  are  inducted  into  their 
high  stations  amid  the  huzzahs  of  the  public.  For  a 
brief  period  they  bask  in  the  warm  sunshine  of 
popular  favor,  and  feast  on  the  smiles  of  their  admir- 
ing countrymen.  They  vainly  imagine  they  will  ever 
have  and  receive  that  public  approbation  so  grateful 
to  human  vanity. 


Public  Opinion.  257 

The  extravagant  expectations  of  the  people  arc 
not  realized ;  the  excitement  abates,  and  symptoms  of 
a  reaction  in  the  public  mind  are  manifest. 

The  minority  now  come  to  the  front  with  their 
platforms  and  promises,  and  hurl  their  epithets  at  the 
victors  of  last  year  for  not  doing  the  impossible 
things  that  had  been  expected  of  them. 

The  party  in  power,  who  have  courted  and 
flattered  the  people,  soon  find  that,  with  all  the 
fickleness  of  the  coquette,  smiles  are  withdrawn  to 
give  place  to  scorn  and  contemjjt.  On  yesterday  it 
was  "Hosannah,"  to-day  it  is  "Cr«cify." 

And  so  of  men  who  vainly  suppose  that  their 
lease  of  office  and  power  will  be  perpetual.  The 
fickle  gales  that  landed  them  safely  in  the  harbor  of 
popular  approbation  have  changed  their  course,  and 
have  become  fearful  hurricanes,  sweeping  them  away 
from  human  cognizance,  and  burying  them  in  the 
gulf  of  eternal  forgetful ness. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  instances  of 
men  and  of  organizations  who  have  builded  their 
castles  on  public  opinion,  that  they  supposed  to  be  as 
solid  as  the  rock,  and  have  found  that  the  foundation 
was  laid  on  the  drifting  sands,  when  their  castles, 
with  the  hopes  and  treasures  of  the  same,  are  tum- 
bling to  wreck  and  ruin. 

Its  power  to  destroy  men  and  overthrow  sects 
and  parties  is  terrific.  Hence  the  most  effectual 
agencies  in  the  world,  intended  by  the  great  Ruler 
of  human  destiny  to  purify  and  elevate  the  human 
race,  fail  from  very  fear  to  undertake  the  work. 
They   dread  the   destruction    that   has  overtaken  so 

17 


258  Public  Opinion. 

many  in  the  past  who  have  gone  forth  to  battle  with 
public  opinion. 

AVhen  the  line  of  battle  is  formed,  and  they  are 
ready  for  the  grand  charge,  they  too  often  strike 
their  colors,  send  out  the  flag  of  truce,  and  surrender 
unconditionally  to  the  enemy. 

The  gifted  orator,  going  forth  to  expose  popular 
errors,  too  often,  as  he  stands  before  the  upturned 
faces  of  the  masses  and  reads  the  feelings  and  opin- 
ions of  his  audience,  finds  his  virtue  weakening.  He 
prefers  their  plaudits  to  their  jeers.  Instead  of  making 
open  warfare  for  the  truth,  he  abandons  it,  and  con- 
firms the  public  in  their  prejudices  and  preconceived 
opinions  by  his  elocjuent  indorsement  of  the  wisdom 
of  the  public  judgment. 

The  press,  that  mighty  instrumentality,  that  is 
doing  more  than  any  other  one  influence  to  make  the 
public  opinion  what  it  is,  too  often  sends  forth  to  the 
public  such  things  as  will  suit  its  taste.  It  makes 
the  loudest  profession  of  courage  and  independence; 
but  if  the  public  taste  be  corrupt  and  depraved,  it  is 
not  willing  to  jeopardize  its  claim  to  public  favor  by 
attempting  to  expose  it.  With  its  ingenuity  and 
sophistry,  it  often  furnishes  to  the  public  such  apol- 
ogies for  popular  errors  as  make  them  acceptable  to 
those  who  otherwise  reject  them. 

Popular  dogmas  in  religion — mere  inventions  of 
weak  and  finite  minds — with  the  aid  of  sectarian  big- 
otry, may,  and  do,  become  so  interwoven  with  the 
faith  of  man  as  to  possess  all  the  authority  of  divine 
revelation. 

These  dogmas  may  command  more  attention  from 


Public  Opinion.  259 

the  Church  thau  love,  charity,  or  eveu  all  the  Chris- 
tian graces.  They  may  blast  all  the  sweet  flowers  that 
bud  and  blossom  and  make  the  Christian's  life  fra- 
grant and  attractive,  by  the  cold  and  chilling  blasts  o^ 
sectarian  wrangling  and  dogmatic  disputation ;  they 
may  rob  the  Christian  religion  of  her  beauty,  and 
expel  the  spirit  of  Christ  from  the  sanctuary  of  God  ; 
yet  if  these  dogmas  be  popular,  if  they  are  the  grand 
centers  of  sectarian  enthusiasm,  the  pulpit  too  often  has 
not  the  courage  to  assail  them.  Too  often  the  public 
pressure  in  their  favor  compels  a* silent  acquiescence, 
if  it  does  not  enforce  an  open  advocacy,  from  the  pul- 
pit. From  this  cause  the  Christian  religion  loses  its 
simplicity,  and  consequently  becomes  shorn  of  its 
power  as  an  agency  for  the  elevation  of  man  to  a 
higher  and  better  life. 

Mere  dogmatic  theology  excites  in  the  minds  of 
its  followers  an  ambition  to  conquer  the  world,  not 
for  the  cause  of  Christ,  but  for  the  purpose  of  becom- 
ing the  Church  in  the  world,  the"  high  ecclesiastical 
court  that  may  pass  sentence  of  condemnation  on  all 
religious  opinions  not  found  in  its  creed ;  may  brand 
all  who  differ  as  heretics ;  yea,  more  and  worse  than 
that,  the  holder  of  the  high  commission  to  persecute 
for  opinion's  sake  all  who  refuse  to  subscribe  to  its 
dogmas.  To  accomplish  this,  these  dogmas  must  become 
popular ;  they  must  be  so  presented  that  they  will  be 
acceptable  to  the  pride  and  passions  of  men.  Chris- 
tianity strives  to  present  in  the  Christian  life  such 
faith  and  works  as  will  be  acceptable  to  God,  while 
dogmatic  theology  is  struggling  to  present  a  Church 
to  the  world  that  will  be  popular  with  man. 


260  Public  Opinion. 

Popular  opinion  generally  throws  its  influence  in 
favor  of  dogmas,  and  this  hinders  the  progress  of  re- 
ligion by  placing  the  ban  of  its  disfavor  on  the  sira- 
<plicity  of  its  doctrines.  In  the  whole  history  of  the 
progress  of  civilization,  it  can  not  be  found  that  any 
proposed  reformation  of  the  habits  of  men,  any  plan 
for  the  elevation  of  man — however  plain  and  easily 
comprehended  it  might  be,  however  fortified  by  reason 
and  good  sense — has  been  at  once  accepted. 

Customs  have  pleaded  against  it;  long  established 
habits  have  protested  against  the  innovation  ;  unrea- 
soning prejudices  have  battled  against  its  acceptance; 
and  if  any  pecuniary  interests  were  affected  by  the 
change,  then  the  mercenary  spirit  of  the  times  has 
forged  slanders  and  falsehoods,  and  hurled  them  at 
the  reform  and  the  reformers.  All  these,  and  many 
other  agencies  put  together,  have  arrayed  public 
opinion  against  reform  and  the  reformers,  and  all  must 
be  conquered  in  detail  before  the  public  judgment  will 
receive  the  new  truths.  It  is  manifest,  then,  that  the 
reformer  must  be,  of  all  men,  the  wisest  in  the  very 
broadest  definition  of  the  word.  His  knowledge  must 
reach  far  beyond  all  that  is  taught  in  the  curriculum  of 
a  college  or  the  university.  He  must  know  himself 
and  understand  his  fellow-man.  He  must  fully  under- 
stand the  motive  powers  that  prompt  human  action. 
He  must  remember,  too,  that  the  host  of  humanity  who 
do  not  think,  control  and  shape  to  a  great  extent  the 
thoughts  and  actions  of  those  who  do  think.  He 
must  have  a  just  conception  of  the  deep  morass  of 
human  vice,  and  of  the  mountains  of  prejudice  and 
selfishness,  that    will   be  found   right   in  the    road  he 


Public  Opinion.  261 

proposes  to  travel.  He  must  uot  forget  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  human  race  cling  as  closely  to  the 
opinions  of  their  ancestors  as  they  do  to  the  family- 
name,  and  would  no  more  readily  give  up  the  one 
than  they  would  be    willing  to   part  with  the   other. 

He  must  be  content  to  work  against  his  own  in- 
terest and  his  own  popularity,  patiently  and  persist- 
ently, without  often  having  the  encouragement  of 
seeing  any  immediate  good  to  repay  for  his  toil  and 
sacrifice.  The  reward  is  in  the  approval  of  his  own 
conscience,  in  the  smiles  of  God,  and  in  the  hope 
that  the  coming  generations  will  do  him  the  justice 
and  the  honor  to  accept  the  truth,  and  place  his  name 
among  those  who  have  loved  their  race  more  than 
themselves.  He  must  have  the  courage  of  the  lion 
combined  with  the  gentleness  of  the  lamb — a  courage 
that  rises  to  that  sublime  eminence  of  glorifying  in 
having  his  name  cast  out  as  evil  for  the  sake  of 
the  truth. 

In  all  ages  there  have  been  such  martyr  spirits  to 
battle  with  public  opinion.  That  human  progress  has 
been  so  slow  is  because  their  nuraibers  have  been  few. 
But  in  all  times  and  ages  humanity  has  marched 
along,  attended  with  this  glorious  band  of  noble 
spirits,  imbued  with  a  Christ-like  spirit  of  self-sacri- 
fice. In  reviewing  their  conflicts  with  public  opin- 
ion, their  persecutions  for  the  cause  of  truth,  their 
dying  for  the  regeneration  of  their  fellow-man,  we 
have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  all  their  sor- 
rows were  for  the  promotion  of  the  best  interests  of 
the  race,  and  were  not  in  vain. 

The   re-enforcement   of  the   comparatively   small 


262  Public  Opinion. 

band  is  the  need  of  the  hour.  The  great  demand  of 
the  times  is  for  many  volunteers  for  the  noble  service. 

We  can  only  calculate  accurately  the  progress  of 
religion  and  civilization  by  the  proportionate  increase 
of  their  numbers  and  the  multiplication  of  their 
forces.  A  religion  that  does  not  overcome  human 
selfishness,  that  does  not  warm  the  heart  for  suffering 
humanity,  that  does  not  develop  the  martyr  spirit,  is 
not  the  religion  of  Christ. 

In  the  light  of  our  civilization,  of  which  we  boast 
so  much  and  so  loud,  if  there  can  not  be  found  many 
who  will  fearlessly  fight  for  the  right,  regardless  of 
the  frowns  and  threats  of  man,  then  indeed  is  our 
civilization  unworthy  the  eloquent  eulogies  constantly 
bestowed  on  it  by  the  orator  and  the  poet. 

When  the  last  page  of  the  world's  history  is  writ- 
ten, and  the  record  of  human  progress  is  complete, 
that  page  will  be  the  brightest  that  records  the  his- 
tory of  the  peerless  age  that  sent  forth  the  most 
heroes  and  heroines — not  to  the  field  of  blood  and 
carnage,  but  to  the  more  glorious  conflict  with  popu- 
lar error  and  vice, — that  age  that  can  exhibit  for  its 
trophies  the  greatest  number  of  broken  shackles  of 
ignorance  and  prejudice,  and,  consequently,  the  great- 
est number  of  minds  liberated  and  made  free  to  ac- 
cept the  truth,  una  wed  by  the  despotic  power  of 
public  oj)inion. 

Do  we  of  this  age  intend  to  contend  for  this  hon- 
orable place  in  history?  If  we  do,  then  our  Chris- 
tianity and  culture  must  be  more  positive  and  heroic. 
A  host  of  reformers  must  be  placed  in  the  field 
who  will  be  willing,  against  fearful  odds,  to  combat 


Public  Opinion.  263 

false  piiblif!  sciitiniciit, — valiant  soldiers  who  can  for- 
get themselves  for  the  triumph  of  the  right;  sol- 
diers free  from  the  shackles  of  sectarian  bigotry  and 
the  fetters  of  party,  armed  with  the  weapons  of 
truth,  and  animated  only  by  love  for  God  and  hu- 
manity ;  soldiers  who,  if  they  can  not  capture  the 
citadels  of  ignorance  and  superstition  by  storm,  will 
have  the  patience  and  perseverance  to  win  by  the 
slower  process  of  the  siege. 

That  we  have  not  now,  in  this  day  of  light  and 
knowledge,  such  a  valiant  army  in  the  field,  gives 
most  conclusive  evidence  that  our  religion  and  civ- 
ilization have  become  demoralized,  and  their  aggress- 
ive power  weakened  by  the  influence  of  a  corrupt 
public  opinion.  It  has  made  moral  cowards  of  those 
who  have  been  the  leaders  in  our  civilization.  In- 
stead of  striving  to  reform  public  opinion,  it  has 
been  their  policy  to  ascertain  what  opinions  were 
prevalent,  that  they  might  concur  in  them. 

Political  platforms  have  been  constructed,  and 
parties  have  been  organized,  not  to  overcome  and 
correct  the  false  notions  of  men,  but  to  popularize 
human  follies,  and  by  their  aid  secure  power.  Church 
polity  has  been  too  often  managed  to  shield  rather 
than  punish  popular  vice. 

It  seems  that  in  this  age  the  highest  aims  of  men 
and  of  organizations  are  to  secure  popular  favor  by 
assenting  to  public  opinion.  Those  who  succeed,  no 
matter  how,  are  congratulated  and  envied  for  their 
good  fortune ;  while  those  who  dared  stand  for  the 
right,  and  battle  with  public  opinion,  and  become 
therefore  unpopular,  are  regarded  with  pity,  and  often 


264  Public  Opinion. 

witb  contempt.  This  world's  crowns  and  glory  are 
given  to  those  who  are  loyal  to  the  popular  will;  the 
stripes  and  persecutions  are  given  to  those  who  dare 
rebel. 

Any  condition  of  human  life  exciting  the  admira- 
tion of  the  mass  of  men  is  most  eagerly  sought  for. 
Prominent  among  these,  and  perhaps  the  chiefest,  is 
wealth.  Riches,  no  matter  how  acquired,  is  a  pass- 
port to  popular  favor.  In  the  language  of  Solomon, 
"  Wealth  makes  many  friends ;  but  the  poor  is  sepa- 
rated from  his  neighbor."  In  this  proverb  the  wise 
old  king  has  given  us  the  motive  jjower  urging  men 
on  to  the  acquisition  of  money. 

Men  do  not  strive  for  riches  so  much  because  of 
its  intrinsic  value  to  them,  but  because  of  the  esti- 
mate that  others  place  upon  it.  Let  riches  lose  this 
charm;  let  the  poor  man,  if  he  have  the  same  moral 
worth,  stand  as  v/ell  in  public  esteem  as  the  rich 
man, — and  this  senseless  struggle  for  the  accumula- 
tion of  colossal  fortunes  will  cease,  and  human  ac- 
tions will  seek  for  higher  aims  and  purposes. 

The  popular  estimate  of  riches  is  begetting  a  mer- 
cenary spirit  that  is  a  reproach  to  our  religion,  and  a 
blot  on  our  civilization.  This  spirit  obtains  control 
of  the  soul  of  man,  prostrates  his  self-respect,  weak- 
ens and  often  destroys  his  moral  sensibilities  by  ex- 
citing such  a  desire  for  gain,  causing  him  to  be  blind 
to  duty,  and  to  trample  under  foot  all  social  obli- 
gations. 

In  the  estimation  of  all  such,  wealth  becomes  a 
god,  and  "on  its  altar  sacrifices  ease,  peace,  truth, 
faiths  integrity,  good  conscience,  friends,  love,  charity, 


Public  Opinion.  265 

benevolence,  and  all  the  sweet  and  tender  sympathies 
of  life." 

It  is  one  of  the  gigantic  evils  of  the  times.  It  is 
the  fonntain  and  origin  of  corruption  in  financial  and 
commercial  life.  It  is  making  our  politics  a  cess- 
pool of  filth  and  stench.  It  aids  to  create  a  public 
sentiment  that  robs  dishonesty  of  disgrace.  Covet- 
ousness,  when  once  it  is  fastened  on  the  human  soul, 
becomes  an  evil  habit  of  the  man  as  difficult  to  cure 
as  intemperance.  The  public  estimate  of  riches  de- 
velops and  strengthens  it  until  the  attainment  of  wealth 
is  the  only  aim  of  the  man.  Silencing  the  voice  of 
conscience,  and  deaf  to  the  demand  of  duty,  he  goes 
forth  to  prey  on  his  fellow-man  with  the  spirit,  if  not 
the  courage,  of  the  highwayman. 

As  a  necessary  result,  we  have  constantly  some 
new  exhibition  of  the  inventive  genius  of  the  swin- 
dler and  sharper.  In  trade,  it  is  daily  producing  well- 
executed  conterfeits  of  all  articles  that  human  wants 
demand,  and  substitutes  them  for  the  genuine,  making 
our  age  emphatically  the  age  of  shams.  It  is  so 
weakening  man's  faith  in  humanity  that  it  is  a  com- 
mon saying  that  is  generally  accepted  as  true,  that 
"  every  man  has  his  price." 

Humanity  has  lost  faith  in  itself.  Men  distrust 
each  other.  This  mercenary  spirit  has  driven  each 
one  back  into  the  narrow  limits  of  his  own  being, 
and  he  has  barred  the  doors  of  confidence  and 
trust. 

The  conviction  has  settled  dowm  deep  in  the 
minds  of  men  that  all  human  action  is  in  every 
case  prompted  by  some  selfish  and  mercenary  motive, 


2()6  Public  Opinion. 

and  professions  to  the  contrary  are  regarded  with  sus- 
picion and  distrust. 

This  very  serious  difficulty  meets  the  reformer 
right  at  the  onset.  Mankind  do  not  believe  him,  or 
have  faith  in  his  propositions.  They  look  upon  his 
projects  as  new  devices  to  entrap  them,  and  upon  him 
as  the  last  invention  of  the  enemy  to  swindle  them. 
From  their  selfish  and  money-getting  stand-point 
they  can  not  see  and  believe  that  human  action  can 
possibly  become  self-sacrificing.  To  them,  duty  and 
truth  bring  only  persecution  and  frowns,  and  are 
senseless  myths;  while  money  is  something  substan- 
tial, bringing  the  sweet  smiles  of  popular  favor. 

This  great  evil,  therefore,  can  not  be  remedied  at 
once.  To  even  correct  it  in  any  great  degree  will 
require  patience,  perseverance,  and  the  wisest  and 
most  persistent  effort. 

It  must  be  corrected,  or  the  hope  for  the  future 
is  blasted.  A  race  of  bold  and  independent  spirits 
must  be  brought  to  the  front  whose  training  must 
contain,  as  one  of  the  principal  elements,  the  infusion 
of  a  manly  courage  to  rise  above  all  mercenary  con- 
siderations in  sustaining  the  right  and  condemning 
the  wrong.  Their  education  should  develop  a  hero- 
ism that  would  cause  them  to  fearlessly  snatch  the 
imperial  scepter  from  Mammon,  overthrow  the  throne 
of  his  despotic  power,  and  make  hateful  and  hideous 
his  corrupting  force. 

A  sentiment  should  be  awakened  disclosing  to 
humanity  the  legitimate  and  proper  use  of  money, 
that  it  is  not  to  be  prostituted  to  the  base  end  of 
gratifying   a    miserly  greed    for    colossal    fortune,  or 


Public  Opinion.  267 

squandered  on  the  senseless  tinselry  that  fashion  has 
invented  as  tlie  guise  of  riehes,  but  that  it  is  to  flow 
in  the  channels  that  God  intended  to  enlighten  man- 
kind. 

In  the  Old  World  are  two  great  rivers  that  meet 
at  a  certain  point,  and  from  thence  their  waters 
mingle,  and  within  the  same  banks  flow  on  to  the 
ocean. 

The  tributaries  of  one  of  these  rivers  rush  down 
the  clayey  hill-sides,  and  sweep,  through  the  mire  of 
the  morass,  bearing  into  the  common  channel  per- 
petual contributions  of  mud  and  filth.  The  other,  an 
outlet  from  a  lake,  flows  on  in  its  crystal  beauty 
through  a  laud  of  sunshine  and  flowers,  with  the 
water  so  clear  that  its  very  depths  become  a  mirror, 
duplicating  the  charming  landscape  on  its  lovely 
shores,  and  reflecting  back  the  glory  of  the  starry 
firmament  above. 

At  the  point  of  the  meeting  of  the  waters  of 
these  streams,  a  contest  at  once  begins  between  the 
pure  and  the  impure.  For  miles  and  leagues  down 
the  stream  the  result  of  the  conflict  seems  to  be  in 
doubt,  whether  the  waters  shall  become  all  pure  or 
all  filthy;  whether  one  shall  purify  the  other,  or  the 
whole  shall  be  defiled.  It  is  said  that  still  farther 
down  the  waters  become  purer,  and  before  their 
united  waters  reach  the  ocean,  the  whole  river  is  as 
pure  and  transparent  as  the  drops  from  the  clouds. 

Thus  this  mercenary  spirit  is  constantly  contrib- 
uting to  popular  sentiment  the  mire  and  dirt  of 
human  corruption  and  selfishness.  Let  wider  and 
deeper'  outlets   be   made   from   the    pure   reservoir  of 


268  Public  Opinion. 

God's  truth,  and  let  broader  and  deeper  streams  flow 
iuto  these  muddy  waters,  aud  as  tlie  whole  flows  on 
through  ages  of  time  to  the  ocean  of  eternity,  may 
these  streams  in  a  like  manner  cleanse  public  opin- 
ion from  all  that  is  filthy  aud  corrupting! 


CONFUCIUS  AND  SOLOMON. 

CONFUCIUS  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  the  peculiar  civilization  of  the  Chinese.  His 
voluminous  writings  bear  the  same  relation  to  the 
Chinese  that  the  Bible  does  to  the  believers  in  Chris- 
tianity. His  disciples  number  more  than  one-fourth 
of  the  human  race.  The  Confucian  code  is  accepted 
by  more  than  ten  times  as  many  people  as  constitute 
the  population  of  the  United  States. 

By  the  most  of  his  followers  Confucius  is  deified. 
One  of  his  most  learned  disciples  thus  eulogizes  him: 
"Confucius  handed  down  the  doctrines  of  Yaon  and 
Shin,  as  if  they  had  been  his  ancestors;  and  elegantly 
displayed  the  regulations  of  Wan  and  AVoo,  taking 
them  as  his  models.  Above  he  harmonized  the  times 
of  heaven,  and  below  he  was  confined  to  the  water 
and  the  land.  He  may  be  compared  to  heaven  and 
earth  in  their  supporting  and  containing — their  over- 
shadowing and  containing  all  things.  He  may  be 
compared  to  the  four  seasons  in  their  alternating 
progress,  and  to  the  sun  and  moon  in  their  successive 
shining.  All-embracing  and  vast,  he  is  like  heaven. 
Deep  and  active  as  a  fountain,  he  is  like  an  abyss. 
He  is  seen,  and  all  the  people  reverence  him;  he 
speaks,  and  the  })eople  all  believe  him;    he  acts,  and 

A  Lecture,  delivered  at  the  Acton  Lecture  Course,  August 
3,  1881. 

269 


270  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

all  the  people  are  pleased  with  him.  Therefore  his 
fame  overspreads  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and  extends 
to  all  barbarous  tribes.  Wherever  ship  and  carriage 
reach,  wherever  the  strength  of  man  penetrates,  wher- 
ever the  heavens  overshadow  and  the  earth  sustains, 
wherever  the  sun  and  moon  shine,  wherever  frosts 
and  dews  fall, — all  who  have  blood  and  breath  un- 
feignedly  honor  and  love  him.  Hence  it  is  said  he 
is  the  equal  of  heaven.  Call  him  man  in  his  ideal, 
how  earnest  is  he !  Call  him  an  abyss,  how  deep  is 
he !  Call  him  Heaven,  how  vast  is  he !  Who  can 
know  him  but  he  who  is  indeed  quick  in  apprehen- 
sion, clear  in  discernment,  of  far-reaching  intelli- 
gence, and  all-embracing  knowledge,  passing  heavenly 
virtue  ?" 

In  the  sacrificial  ritual  of  the  Chinese  there  may 
be  found  a  short  account  of  the  life  of  this  wonderful 
personage.  This  ritual  closes  with  these  words: 
"  Confucius !  Confucius  !  How  great  is  Confucius ! 
Before  Confucius  there  never  was  a  Confucius! 
Since  Confucius  there  has  never  been  a  Con- 
fucius! Confucius!  Confucius!  How  great  is  Con- 
fucius !" 

Many  more  such  extracts  could  be  given  of  the 
same  character,  showing  the  depth  of  the  adoration 
of  his  numerous  disciples;  but  this  will  suffice  for 
the  point.  It  might  be  proper  to  add  that,  although 
twenty-three  centuries  have  passed  since  this  wonder- 
ful man  lived,  and  during  that  time  many  an  ambi- 
tious leader  has  arisen  and  for  a  time  flourished  and 
is  now  forgotten,  yet  there  is  no  abatement  of  the 
zeal  of  his  followers.     The  peaceful  valley  where  he 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  271 

died  has  been  for  all  time  since  then,  and  is  now,  a 
sacred  spot,  a  resort,  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  the 
learned  and  superstitious. 

More  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  when  seventy- 
four  generations  had  passed  away  since  his  death, 
there  were  twelve  thousand  of  his  descendants  who 
bore  his  name.  There  are  over  forty  thousand  now. 
It  is  an  honor  that  gives  them  all  high  rank  among 
the  people,  and  exempts  them  from  taxation.  Over 
sixteen  hundred  temples  are  dedicated  to  him,  and 
annually  over  sixty  thousand  animals  are  immolated 
on  the  altars  of  sacrifice  to  the  memory  of  the  great 
philosopher.  His  voluminous  writings  are  com- 
mitted to  memory  by  thousands  of  his  followers  so 
perfectly  that  if  every  book  of  all  his  works  were 
destroyed,  they  could  all  be  restored  from  the  memo- 
ries of  his  disciples,  word  for  word. 

Confucius  Mas  in  the  height  and  zenith  of  his 
glory  about  five  hundred  years  before  Christ.  His 
ethical  writings  are  the  wonder  of  the  world,  when 
the  age  in  which  they  were  written  and  the  opportuni- 
ties he  had  are  taken  into  consideration.  The  infidel 
writers,  especially  those  of  France,  have  gone  wild  in 
their  admiration  and  eulogium  of  his  proverbs,  and 
have  boldly  asserted  that  they  excel  in  wisdom  those 
of  Solomon,  and  go  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  are  but  a  repetition  of  the  maxims 
of  Confucius. 

The  appreciation  of  the  maxims  of  the  great  phi- 
losopher, and  the  depreciation  of  the  proverbs  of 
Solomon,  is  one  of  the  modern  modes  of  warfare  of 
the  skeptic  in  his  assault  on  the  Bible  as  an  inspired 


272  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

book.  Let  us  briefly  compare  these  men  and  their 
writings. 

Both  of  them  were  of  distinguished  parentage. 
Confucius  was  the  son  of  the  prime  minister  of  the 
kingdom  of  Loo.  Solomon  was  the  son  of  the  great 
warrior-king  and  sweet  singer  of  Israel.  Solomon 
was  the  ruling  monarch  of  Israel;  and,  by  his  wisdom 
and  the  splendor  of  his  court,  was  the  wonder  of  the 
surrounding  nations  a  little  more  than  one  thousand 
years  before  Christ  was  born.  Solomon,  therefore, 
preceded  Confucius  more  than  five  hundred  years. 

Both  of  them  were  animated  with  the  same  am- 
bition to  stand  in  the  very  front  rank  with  the  wisest 
men  of  their  times.  Both,  of  distinguished  parent- 
age, were  alike  determined  to  add  to  the  glory  they 
inherited  the  grander  fame  of  great  personal  achieve- 
ments. 

Confucius  rejected  all  idea  of  a  divine  revelation, 
and  groped  his  way  along  without  the  light  of  the 
Word  of  God.  Solomon  went  to  the  Lord,  and  asked, 
not  for  long  life  or  riches,  but  prayed  for  divine  help 
in  searching  for  wisdom. 

Confucius  lived  in  a  land  where  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  had  never  penetrated  the  darkness 
and  gloom  of  heathenism  all  around  him.  Solomon 
was  the  great  and  wise  king  of  the  very  nation  which 
had  been  so  miraculously  preserved  by  the  interpo- 
sition of  the  Almighty,  and  who  had  in  past  times 
given  to  the  leaders  and  rulers  the  laws  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  and  whom  he  intended  to 
honor  by  making  one  born  of  that  nation  to  be  the 
Savior  and  Redeemer  for  all  mankind.     The  writings 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  TIZ 

of  Solomon,  therefore,  in  all  things,  recognized  God 
and  the  future  life;  while  those  of  Confucius  were 
confined  to  the  narrow  circle  of  human  life,  and  the 
duties  and  obligations  arising  from  man's  relation  to 
his  fellow-man. 

It  is  true  that  Solomon  also  discoursed  largely  on 
all  the  relations  of  life.  In  his  proverbs  may  be 
found  the  purest  ethics,  the  grandest  poetry,  the  pro- 
foundest  philosophy.  It  discloses  him  to  have  been  a 
great  statesman,  a  wise  king  and  lawgiver.  His  pen 
has  written  him  on  the  imperishable  pages  of  divine 
history  as  a  philosopher,  a  statesman,  a  poet,  and  a 
sage.  He  not  only  advocated  the  right  for  its  own 
sake,  but  he  also,  with  the  authority  of  one  inspired^ 
proclaimed  what  God  required  of  men. 

The  ethics  of  Confucius  is  the  production  of  a 
great  mind  nnaided  by  any  true  conception  of  divin- 
ity ;  while  that  of  Solomon,  written  more  than  five 
hundred  years  before,  rises  so  far  above  him  in  moral 
grandeur  as  to  compel  mankind  to  recognizie  therein 
the  utterings  of  the  omniscient  and  infinite. 

Solomon  announces  in  the  very  beginning  of  his 
Book  of  Proverbs  that  "  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom."  Confucius  commences  his 
Book  of  Maxims,  put  in  the  form  of  a  question :  "  Is 
he  not  a  man  of  perfect  virtue  who  feels  no  discom- 
posure, though  men  may  take  no  note  of  him?" 

These  two  maxims  may  justly  be  taken  as  key- 
notes of  the  writings  of  these  great  men.  The  one 
lifts  man  up  to  the  consideration  of  the  grandeur  and 
immortality  of  his  being  and  existence ;  the  other 
makes  perfect  virtue  to  be  a  placid  state  of  mind,  in 

IS 


274  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

which  stupidity  is  the  most  prominent  feature.  This 
will  be  found  to  be  true  all  through  the  maxims  of 
these  great  proverb-writers. 

While  in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon  it  is  sounded 
out  loud  and  clear  that  God  is  the  Father  of  us  all, 
and  that  we  are  all  bound,  for  his  sake  and  in  obedi- 
ence to  his  command,  to  love,  cherish,  and  protect  each 
other:  in  the  maxims  of  the  Chinese  philosopher  the 
practice  of  virtue  is  urged  because  of  the  good  that 
will  come  to  him  who  practices  it.  The  one  incul- 
cates the  higher  love  to  God  and  man ;  the  other 
makes  an  appeal  to  the  selfishness  of  human  nature 
as  an  incentive  to  virtuous  actions.  The  one  teaches 
an  active  principle  of  good,  conveying  blessings  to  all 
around,  while  the  other  simply  enjoins  a  mere  passive 
or  negative  condition  of  the  human  mind.  The  one 
looks  to  the  good  of  others,  and  the  other  to  what  is 
best  for  self. 

It  would  not  be  just  or  honest  to  say  that  the 
whole  code  of  Confucius  is  as  narrow  as  human  self- 
ishness; for  in  his  teachings  we  find  many  noble  and 
generous  things  that  can  not  be  too  much  commended; 
yet  he  did  recognize  selfishness  as  the  mainspring 
and  motive  power  of  human  action. 

The  writings  of  Solomon  were  the  exact  reverse 
in  this  regard.  In  corroboration  of  this  view  of  the 
case,  let  us  take  two  statements  that  these  great  writers 
have  made  on  the  same  subject — a  subject  that  seems 
to  have  engrossed  the  profoundest  consideration  of 
both.     I  mean  the  correct  conduct  of  human  life. 

Confucius  says :  "  To  be  able  to  practice  jive 
things  constitutes  perfect  virtue."     When  asked  what 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  275 

these  five  things  were,  he  said :  "  Gravity,  generosity 
of  soul,  sincerity,  earnestness,  and  kindness."  As  a 
reason  for  the  practice  of  these  five  essential  things, 
he  says :  "  If  you  are  grave,  you  will  be  treated  with 
respect.  If  you  are  generous,  you  will  win  all.  If 
you  are  sincere,  people  will  repose  trust  in  you.  If 
you  are  earnest,  you  icill  accomplish  much.  If  you  are 
kind,  this  will  enable  you  to  employ  the  service  of 
others." 

Had  he  been  content  to  merely  state  the  elements 
that  compose  perfect  virtue,  his  case  would  have  been 
stronger.  He  weakened  it  by  giving  the  reasons,  and 
in  that  it  must  be  regarded  that,  in  so  doing,  he  gives 
us  the  animus  of  his  philosophy.  Perfect  virtue,  ac- 
cording to  this  Confucian  code,  has  its  foundation  and 
origin  in  human  selfishness ;  and  to  that,  and  that 
alone,  he  makes  his  appeal  in  urging  its  claims  on  his 
followers. 

To  practice  his  five  things,  good  as  they  are,  no 
reason  is  given  that  in  doing  so  the  good  of  others 
will  be  promoted.  This  is  not  even  hinted  at.  The 
whole  argument  is  as  narrow  as  human  selfishness 
would  desire  it  to  be.  He  promises  to  pay  heavy 
dividends  of  personal  benefits  to  all  who  will  invest 
in  his  scheme  of  perfect  virtue.  He  says:  ''When 
one  gives  few  occasions  for  blame  in  his  words,  and 
few  occasions  for  repentance  in  his  conduct,  he  is  in 
the  way  to  get  emolument."  He  thus  commends  his 
philosophy  on  the  ground  that  it  will  pay.  No  higher 
or  broader  ground  is  mentioned.  Even  generosity  is 
commended,  not  because  its  practice  will  scatter  hap- 
piness all  around,  and  make  mankind  better,  and  life 


276  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

sweeter,  and  existence  more  tolerable,  but  because,  by 
so  doing,  it  will  win  others  to  your  interest,  and  will 
pay  cash  down  for  all  you  invest  in  it.  Kindness  is 
recommended  because  by  it  you  can  attach  otiiers  to 
your  service,  and  thus  promote  your  own  interest  and 
make  more  headway  in  the  world. 

It  might  be  proper  to  remark  right  here  that  this 
idea  of  perfect  virtue  prevails  to  some  extent  in  this 
Christian  land.  The  practice  of  just  the  amount  of 
virtue  that  will  pay  good  divideuds«iu  dollars  or  per- 
sonal aggrandizement  is,  by  no  means,  confined  to  the 
"Heathen  Chinee."  It  must  be  confessed  that,  while 
we  claim  to  believe  Solomon,  not  a  few  follow  Con- 
fucius in  this  regard. 

In  contrast  with  the  five  things  and  reasons  given 
for  them  by  Confucius,  to  make  a  man  perfect,  let  us 
hear  a  kindred  declaration  of  Solomon.  He  says : 
"  These  six  things  doth  the  Lord  hate,  yea,  seven  are 
an  abomination  unto  the  Lord  :  A  proud  look,  a  lying 
tongue,  and  hands  that  shed  innocent  blood;  an  heart 
that  deviseth  wicked  imagination,  feet  that  be  swift 
in  running  into  mischief;  a  false  witness  that  speaketh 
lies,  and  him  that  soweth  discord  among  brethren." 

In  the  above  seven  things  that  wise  king  said 
were  abhorent  to  the  Lord,  it  is  manifest  that  their 
practice  is  condemned  for  the  reason  that  such  evils 
are  against  the  general  welfare.  For  this  reason  these 
practices  are  denounced.  The  requirement  is  made 
that  these  things  shall  be  avoided  on  the  higher  and 
broader  ground  that  the  general  good  requires  it. 
No  mention  is  here  made  that  the  man  who  observes 
these  precepts  and  obeys  them  will  have  personal  gain 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  277 

by  so  doing.  It  was  deemed  sufficient  that  others 
would  be  the  losers,  and  for  this  reason  he  must  obey. 

We  can  not  fail  to  observe  that,  in  these  seven 
things  that  Solomon  says  are  so  hateful  to  God,  a 
majority  of  them  are  against  lying  and  slauder.  All 
throuo-h  the  Book  of  Proverbs*  of  Solomon  "we  can 
find  the  most  terrible  denunciation  of  the  liar  and 
backbiter.  He  seemed  to  hold  these  sins  in  special 
abhorrence,  and  to  regard  all  those  who  were  guilty 
of  them  as  being  very  detestable  in  the  sight  of  a 
kind  and  loving  Father.  Not  only  is  the  life  of  others 
to  be  regarded  as  sacred  in  Solomon's  code,  but  their 
'character  and  reputation  is  to  be  equally  free  from  as- 
sault. The  slanderer  and  the  murderer  are  alike  hate- 
ful in  the  sight  of  God,  and  are  put  in  the  same 
category.  Mankind  are  not  promised  personal  reward 
if  they  will  not  shed  the  blood  of  others  or  slaughter 
their  good  name.  The  good  of  society  demands  their 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  right. 

The  eulogists  of  the  Confucian  code,  while  they 
may  agree  that  the  great  philosopher  in  all  cases  did 
not  place  the  practice  of  virtue  on  the  proper  ground, 
yet  it  is  insisted  that  the  code  itself  contains  the  pur- 
est morality,  and  that  its  practice  will  work  as  great, 
if  not  greater  reformation  on  society  than  the  observ- 
ance of  the  proverbs  of  Solomon.  This  position  can 
not  be  maintained.  Many  of  the  maxims  of  Confu- 
cius are  positively  bad  and  vicious,  and  must  be  con- 
demned by  the  moral  sense  of  mankind.  They  posi- 
tively uphold  and  sustain  what  the  civilized  world 
would  pronounce  to  be  evil,  without  any  help  to 
reach  such  couclusiun  from  divine  revelation. 


278  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

It  is  said  that  the  DuK-e  of  Shea,  one  of  the  prov- 
inces of  China,  once  wont  to  Confucius  for  counsel 
and  advice,  and  told  the  philosopher  that  in  his  part 
of  the  country  there  were  those  so  upright  that  if  the 
father  had  stolen  a  sheep,  the  sou  would  bear  witness 
to  the  fact.  Confucius  replied  :  "  Among  us,  in  our 
part  of  the  country,  those  who  are  upright  are  differ- 
ent from  this.  The  father  conceals  the  misconduct 
of  the  son,  and  the  son  the  misconduct  of  the  father. 
JJprighhiess  is  to  he  found  in  this.''  From  time  imme- 
morial the  sheep-thief  has  been  regarded  as  the 
meanest  of  thieves,  so  that  "  as  mean  as  a  sheep- 
thief"  has  become  one  of  the  sayings  of  the  world; 
yet  this  great  teacher  lays  down  the  principle  for 
the  acceptance  of  his  followers  that  even  this  crime 
must  not  be  ex]><)sed  if  the  witness  has  to  bear  testi- 
mony against  a  relative — that  uprightness  consists, 
in  all  such  cases,  in  concealing  the  crime  and  protect- 
ing the  criminal.  His  code  of  morals — if  it  may 
be  so  called — was  not  even  and  Avell  adjusted.  It 
was  not  consistent  with  itself.  It  does  not  contain 
the  elements  of  positive,  active  virtue.  It  is  a  fact  in 
the  history  of  the  Chinese  that  such  is  their  char- 
acter— selfish,  cunning,  and  deceitful,  they  fairly  re- 
flect in  their  meanness  the  points  of  the  code  from 
which  they  find  the  rules  for  their  conduct  of  life. 

Let  us  take  another  of  the  sayings  of  Confucius. 
In  speaking  of  the  character  of  Huey,  who  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  the  notables  in  China,  Confucius 
said:  "Admirable,  indeed,  was  the  virtue  of  Huey. 
With  a  single  bamboo-dish  of  rice,  a  single  gourd- 
dish  of  drink,  and   living  in  his  mean,  narrow   lane, 


COiXFUCIUS  AND  SOLOMON.  279 

■while  others  could  not  have  endured  the  distress,  he 
did  not  allow  his  joy  to  be  affected  by  it.  Admirable, 
indeed,  is  the  virtue  of  Huey."  ^Yho  this  model  of 
perfection  ^yas,  or  what  other  characteristics  he  had 
to  challenge  such  admiration  and  eulogy,  we  know 
not.  The  thing  that  seems  to  call  out  the  praise  of 
Confucius  was  that  his  hero,  without  sufficient  food 
or  shelter,  could  live  in  the  dirt  like  a  hog  and 
be  happy.  We  are  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  this 
pink  of  perfection  was  a  lazy  loafer,  too  indolent 
to  Avork  for  sufficient  food — a  kind  of  unwashed 
dead-beat,  who  had  not  sufficient  energy  to  be  a 
tramp,  and,  content  in  his  filth,  was  as  jolly  as  Mark 
Tapley. 

That  this  dirty  model  has  millions  of  followers  in 
China,  the  history  of  that  country  and  the  specimens 
who  come  to  our  shores  furnish  conclusive  evidence. 
Confucius  has  made  virtue  cheap — as  cheap  as  dirt. 
The  Chinese  being  the  earnest  and  sincere  followers 
of  Confucius,  their  civilization  and  condition  in  this 
regard  are  fair  types  of  his  philosophy.  It  seems  to 
us  a  strange  sort  of  moral  philosophy  that  the  sweet 
flowers  of  virtue  may  be  best  cultivated  in  the  soil 
of  filth  and  indolence.  Solomon  says :  "  Seest  thou 
a  man  diligent  in  business,  he  shall  stand  before 
kings.     He  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men." 

As  a  people,  the  Chinese  are  avaricious.  In  this 
they  follow  the  teachings  of  their  master.  In  the  bi- 
ography of  this  great  philosopher  it  is  said  that  at 
one  time  he  went  to  dispense  wisdom  to  the  people 
of  the  kingdom  of  Wei.  Yen  Yew  acted  as  the 
driver  of  his  carriage.     While  on  the  way,  the  sage 


280  Confucius  a^d  Solomon. 

asked  Yen  Yew,  "  How  numerous  are  the  people  of 
this  kiugclom?"  and  when  told  that  they  were  very 
numerous,  Yen  Yew  asked  that  since  they  were  thus 
numerous,  what  more  shall  be  done  for  them?  "En- 
rich them,"  was  the  reply  of  Confucius.  "And  what 
more  shall  be  done  after  they  are  enriched?"  was  the 
next  question  put  to  the  sage.  "  Teach  them,"  was 
the  reply  of  Confucius. 

It  must  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  all  these 
sayings  are  like  Holy  Writ  to  the  devotees  of  this 
great  leader.  Whatever  he  said,  they  make  the  rule 
of  their  lives.  Riches  first,  and  intelligence  after- 
ward. Riches  before  righteousness,  before  justice. 
This  is  the  model  code  that  infidel  philosophy  pre- 
sents to  the  world  for  man's  acceptance,  in  place  of 
the  teachings  of  Solomon,  and  the  words  of  Him  who 
spoke  as  never  man  spake. 

Hear  Solomon :  "A  good  name  is  rather  to  be 
chosen  than  great  riches."  "  The  rich  and  the  poor 
meet  together;  the  Lord  is  the  Maker  of  them  all." 
"  By  humility  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  are  riches 
and  honor  and  life."  "  Better  is  the  poor  that  walk- 
eth  in  his  integrity  than  he  that  is  perverse  in  his 
way,  though  he  be  rich." 

It  will  scarcely  be  questioned  that,  in  all  places 
and  in  every  condition  and  degree  of  progress  and 
civilization,  the  mercenary  spirit  has  ever  been  found 
to  be  the  chief  hindering  cause  to  the  elevation  and 
improvement  of  the  human  race.  It  is  so  in  all 
Christian  countries  where  the  Bible  is  read  and  be- 
lieved. If  this  evil  spirit  is  found  so  formidable 
among  people  whose  religion  condemns  it,  how  much 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  281 

more  powerful  must  it  be  for  evil  under  a  system  that 
fosters  and  encourages  it ! 

On  the  subject  of  parental  authority,  Confucius 
was  almost,  if  not  quite,  a  monomaniac.  Absolute 
and  unqualified  submission  to  parents  was  his  hobby, 
and  connected  with  that,  and  as  a  corollary  to  it,  he 
inculcated  the  most  slavish  submission  to  superiors. 
It  will  be  found  in  his  writings,  that  after  discoursing 
most  voluminously  on  the  different  sorts  of  crime, 
and  the  proper  penalty  due  to  each  offense,  and  after 
classifying  and  enumerating  them,  he  lays  down  this 
maxim  as  a  well-considered  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter :  "  Of  the  three  thousand  crimes  included 
under  the  five  kinds  of  punishment,  there  is  none 
greater  than  disobedience  to  parents."  In  all  cases 
it  was  the  absolute  right  of  the  parent  to  command, 
and  the  imperative  duty  of  the  child  to  obey.  To 
this  rule  there  was  no  exception.  It  did  not  alter  the 
case  that  the  sou  had  reached  mature  manhood, 
and  the  mind  of  the  parent  had  been  enfeebled  by  age 
or  disease.  The  wickedness  of  the  order  of  the 
father,  a  command  at  variance  with  all  sense  of  right 
or  decency,  did  not  modify  the  rule.  Rebellion 
against  parental  authority  in  any  case  was,  in  his 
mind,  the  darkest  of  crimes,  and  could  not,  under 
any  circumstances,  be  tolerated.  To  prevent  the  ex- 
ercise of  private  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  son,  and 
to  make  the  rule  absolute,  he  made  this  declaration: 
"  AVhen  his  parents  are  in  error,  the  son,  with  a 
humble  spirit,  a  pleasing  countenance,  and  a  gentle 
tone,  must  point  out  the  error  to  them.  If  they  do 
not  receive  his  reproof,  he  must  strive  more  and  more 


282  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

to  be  dutiful  to  them  and  respectful  toward  them  until 
they  are  pleased,  and  then  he  must  again  point  out 
the  error.  If  a  son,  in  performing  his  duty  to  his 
parents,  has  thrice  endeavored  to  correct  them  with- 
out their  listening  to  him,  ihen,  weeping  and  lamenting, 
he  must  follow  their  commands  J' 

To  further  show  how  absolute  was  the  authority 
of  the  father  over  the  son,  allow  me  to  quote  from  the 
sacred  book  of  poetry,  in  which  Confucius  often  recurs 
to  this  subject.  In  that  book  he  teaches  by  questions 
and  answers.  He  asks  this  question  :  "  In  marrying 
a  wife,  how  ought  a  man  to  proceed  ?"  His  answer 
is :  "  He  must  consult  his  parents."  If  the  father 
consented  to  the  marriage  of  the  son,  he  could 
marry;  if  he  refused,  then  he  dare  not  disobey.  If 
the  father  agreed  to  the  marriage  of  the  son,  the  son 
was  not  permitted  to  go  in  search  of  a  wife  con- 
genial to  his  taste,  or  in  accordance  with  his  notions 
of  what  constituted  female  beauty  and  accomplish- 
ments. That  whole  business  was  done  by  the  father. 
It  is  the  rule  yet  in  China.  The  bridegroom  is  never 
permitted  to  see  his  bride  until  after  they  are  married. 

While  the  Chinese  have  made  a  great  many  won- 
derful and  beautiful  fabrics,  and  have  constructed  the 
most  elaborate  and  intricate  specimens  of  mechanism 
that  have  puzzled  the  whole  world,  they  are  not  per- 
mitted, under  their  code,  to  engage  in  that  delightful 
yet  difficult  business  of  making  love.  The  iron  code 
of  Confucius,  on  the  subject  of  parental  authority, 
has  been  so  rigidly  enforced  that  the  manufacture  of 
this  precious  article  by  the  boys  and  girls  is  strictly 
forbidden  and  prevented. 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  283 

It  is,  indeed,  a  sad  thing  to  consider,  wlien  we  are 
In'ought  face  to  face  with  the  fact,  that  all  the  many 
believers  of  Confucius — more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
whole  human  race — of  all  that  are  now  living,  and  of 
all  those  who  have  died  in  the  last  twenty-odd  cen- 
turies, not  one  man  of  all  that  countless  throng  has 
ever  had  the  sweet  experience  of  courting  the  girls ! 
In  our  civilization,  that  most  deligh.tful  portion  of  our 
life's  experience  is  the  last  to  depart  from  our  mem- 
ories, and  in  the  evening  of  life  is  most  frequently 
recalled.  When  the  weight  of  many  years,  and  the 
numerous  sorrows  of  life  so  press  us  down  as  to  make 
even  the  grave  look  inviting,  then  these  sweet  mem- 
ories of  our  youth  come  again  to  cheer  and  brighten 
the  winter  of  old  age,  and  for  a  time  the  recollection 
of  these  joys  chase  away  the  griefs  that  in  later  life 
fasten  themselves  to  our  life's  experience.  These 
tender  remembrances  not  only  cheer  old  age,  but 
they  soften  the  withered  hearts,  and  fill  them  with 
love  and  charity  for  the  young.  Without  it,  the  old 
ao;e  of  the  Chinese  must  be  cheerless  and  ploomv. 

This  brings  us  to  consider  one  of  the  most  fatal 
defects  in  the  whole  Confucian  system.  The  great 
philosopher  took  no  account  of  looman.  She  was 
nothing  in  his  estimation.  Not  only  was  this  his 
theory,  but  he  put  it  into  practice  by  abandoning  his 
wife  and  child  because  they  diverted  his  mind  from 
his  studies.  As  a  result,  women  in  China  are  but 
little  more  than  chattels.  They  are  the  slaves  of  the 
men.  The  girls  are  sold  to  those  who  are  looking 
for  wives  for  their  sons.  To  have  a  large  family  of 
handsome  and  accomj)li.sliod  daughters  is  a  source  of 


284  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

great  profit  to  the  father.  He  disposes  of  his  fine 
stock  to  those  who  will  bid  the  most  for  them.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  fiud  a  single  word  of  condemnation 
in  all  the  fine  philosophy  of  Confucius  against  this 
brutality — not  one  word. 

Low,  indeed,  is  the  type  of  civilization  that  ex- 
cludes the  wives  and  mothers  from  all  social  position. 
Blunted  must  be  the  moral  sense  of  a  people  who 
treat  women  with  no  more  consideration  than  they  do 
animals.  Yet  such  is  the  civilization  of  China. 
Women  have  no  social  position  there.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  attend  the  theater,  or  any  other  public  as- 
semblage. Even  among  the  best  and  most  polished 
in  Chinese  society,  women  are  not,  in  any  sense,  re- 
garded as  the  equal  of  men ;  nor  are  they  permitted 
to  enjoy  with  them  even  the  society  of  their  own 
homes. 

When  a  mandarin  gives  an  entertainment  to  his 
friends,  his  wife  (or  wives,  as  the  case  may  be)  may  be 
permitted  to  invite  a  few  of  her  female  friends  to 
witness  the  games  and  revelry  of  the  men  from  a  lat- 
tice gallery.  Neither  the  wives  nor  the  friends 
invited  are  allowed  any  other  participation  in  the 
festivities.  Even  this  much  is  regarded  as  a  great 
condescension  and  concession  to  the  women. 

In  order  to  a  fuller  and  clearer  appreciation  of 
the  point  here  made  against  the  Confucian  system,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  Confucius  undertook  to 
discourse  on  the  whole  round  of  duties  and  obliga- 
tions of  human  life.  Ethics  was  his  principal  theme. 
He  pointed  out  the  remedy  for  abuses  in  society  and 
to  reform   the  civil   government.     AVith  the  greatest 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  285 

particularity  he  made  and  proclaimed  rules  to  meet 
every  condition  of  man,  communities,  and  states.  He 
not  only  lays  down  the  law  for  sovereigns  and  rulers — 
the  treatment  due  the  governed,  and  the  duty  and 
conduct  of  the  governed — but  he  enters  the  family 
circle,  and,  with  tedious  particularity,  tells  what  the 
child  must  be  taught  at  this  age,  and  then  what  it 
must  learn  when  it  is  a  year  older;  the  kind  of  gar- 
ments it  must  wear,  and  how  they  must  be  made. 
He  has  a  code  of  etiquette, — the  mode  and  manner  of 
sacrificing;  the  duty  of  parents;  the  obligations  of 
children, — until  one  becomes  wearied  with  its  long- 
drawn-out  prolixity.  He  seemed  to  fear  that  he 
would  omit  something  that  would  leave  the  world  in 
doubt  as  to  what  should  be  done  in  some  new  relation 
that  might  arise  in  the  various  phases  of  life. 

Being  a  sage  and  counselor,  in  his  later  life  we 
find  him  visited  from  all  parts  of  the  Chinese  Empire 
by  those  who  had  heard  of  his  wisdom,  asking  him 
all  manner  of  questions,  covering  every  conceivable 
case  or  condition  in  human  life.  To  all  these  ques- 
tions, many  of  which  were  very  shallow,  he  gave  his 
answers  with  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  an 
oracle.  All  of  his  replies  to  these  interrogatories, 
whether  they  were  wise  or  foolish,  were  recorded  as 
wise  maxims,  and  are  to-day  a  part  of  the  proverbial 
teachings  of  this  philosopher,  which  are  like  Holy 
AVrit  to  the  millions  who  take  him  for  their  guide. 

But  in  all  this  vast  mass  of  ethical  law,  the 
rights  of  woman  are  entirely  ignored.  Not  a  sen- 
tence demanding  her  elevation  ;  not  a  proverb  de- 
nouncing  the   brutality  of    man's    treatment ;    not  a 


286  CoivFUcius  AND  Solomon. 

word  of  denunciation  of  the  despotism  tb.at  made  hei 
a  mere  chattel  and  a  slave.  Yet  the  evil  was  con- 
stantly before  him. 

Even  a  generation  or  two  after  he  died,  another 
great  teacher  of  the  Chinese,  and  a  most  fulsome 
eulogist  of  Confucius,  gave  the  rule  that  should  gov- 
ern the  conduct  of  the  wives.  It  is  a  most  shameful, 
one-sided  argument  in  favor  of  oppression,  and  a  per- 
emptory demand  of  women  to  submit  in  all  things  to 
their  husbands.  He  closes  his  appeal  in  these  words : 
"  Wives,  we  can  not  but  impress  these  words  on  your 
memories.  For  the  male  to  be  firm  and  the  female 
to  be  flexible,  is  what  reason  points  out  as  a  proper 
rule."  "  But,"  he  adds,  ''  in  this  world,  you  con- 
stantly meet  with  a  class  of  husbands  who  foolishly 
love  and  respect  their  wives  too  much,  as  if  they  were 
more  honorable,  or  suj)erior  to  themselves.  If  any- 
thing occur,  they  are  afraid  to  go  before  them,  and 
thus  the  woman  becomes  the  roaring  lioness  of  Ho- 
tung,  or  the  female  fowl  that  announces  the  morning." 

The  heart  sickens,  and  we  turn  away  with  loath- 
ing from  a  code  of  ethics  so  utterly  heartless  and 
inhuman.  We  become  weary  with  its  mere  plati- 
tudes. A  civilization  that  robs  woman  of  her  rights, 
that  banishes  her  gentle  influence  from  the  social 
circle,  that  makes  one-half  of  the  human  family — and 
that  the  better  half — mere  chattels  and  slaves,  is  not 
worthy  of  the  name.  The  degradation  of  the  wives 
and  mothers  will  have  a  terrible  reflex  influence  on 
the  sons  and  husbands,  robbing  them  of  true  man- 
hood, producing  a  race  of  cowards  and  poltroons. 
And    such    are    the    Chinese.     Their    soldiers    wear 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  287 

quiited  petticoats,  satin  boots,  aud  bead  necklaces, 
carry  umbrellas  and  fans,  and  go  to  a  night  attack  with 
lanterns  in  their  hands,  being  more  afraid  of  the 
darkness  than  of  exposing  themselves  to  the  enemy. 

We  turn,  therefore,  with  relief  and  delight  from 
the  Confucian  Code  to  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon.  In 
the  VQry  conclusion  of  that  wonderful  book,  and  as 
the  climax  of  his  poetic  eloquence,  he  commends  the 
virtuous  woman.  He  exalts  her  in  his  grand  and 
wonderful  eulogiuni  as  he  does  no  other  personage  of 
whom  he  discourses.  Fully  comprehending  all  the 
excellencies  of  her  nature  and  the  beauties  of  her 
character,  with  the  skill  of  an  artist  he  forms  them  into 
a  chaplet  of  beauty,  and  with  it  crowns  her  the  queen 
of  society,  demanding  for  her  the  homage  and  admi- 
ration of  the  world.  Such  homage  she  has  ever  re- 
ceived in  all  lands  where  the  Bible  is  the  code,  and 
not  that  of  Confucius. 

I  can  not  refrain  from  a  few  quotations  from  his 
grand  eulogy.  After  stating  that  the  virtuous  woman 
is  of  more  priceless  value  than  rubies,  he  says :  "  The 
heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely  trust  in  her.  She 
will  do  him  good,  aud  not  evil,  all  the  days  of  her 
life.  She  riseth  while  it  is  yet  night,  and  giveth 
meat  to  her  household.  She  layeth  her  hands  to  the 
spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the  distaif.  She  stretcheth 
out  her  hand  to  the  poor;  yea,  she  reacheth  forth 
her  hands  to  the  needy.  She  is  not  afraid  of  the 
snow  for  her  househeld :  for  all  her  household  are 
clothed  with  scarlet.  Her  husband  is  known  in  the 
gates,  when  he  sitteth  with  the  elders  of  the  land. 
Strength  and    honor  are   her  clothing,  and  she  shall 


288  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

rejoice  in  time  to  come.  She  openeth  her  mouth  with 
wisdom;  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness. 
She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household,  and 
eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness.  Her  children  rise 
up,  and  call  her  blessed ;  her  husband  also,  and  he 
blesseth  her." 

Had  Confucius,  in  like  manner,  exalted  woman ; 
had  he,  when  he  became  the  ruler  of  the  Chinese 
mind,  broken  the  shackles  that  bound  her,  and  de- 
nounced the  tyranny  that  oppressed  her,  and  called 
her  forth  from  her  prison,  and  crowned  her  the 
queen  of  the  social  circle,  investing  her  with  equal 
rights  with  man, — the  higher  civilization  of  China 
would  then  be  the  enduring  monument  to  his  glory 
and  real  greatness.  The  rank  of  his  greatness  would 
have  been  as  much  higher  as  justice  is  higher  than  op- 
pression, and  as  Christian  civilization  is  above  barba- 
rism. That  he  did  not  do  so,  is  a  matter  of  surprise 
and  regret ;  for  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  much 
in  the  maxims  of  the  philosopher  that  show  that  he 
was  animated  with  a  high  sense  of  justice. 

His  system  of  political  ethics  and  his  code  of 
morals,  imperfect  as  they  are,  were  far  in  advance  of 
his  people.  He  was,  doubtless,  the  chief  instrument 
in  lifting  the  Chinese  people  to  a  higher  plane,  and 
in  infusing  into  the  Chinese  mind  a  love  for  learning 
that  has  resulted  in  a  better  civilization  than  can  be 
found  in  any  other  portion  of  Eastern  Asia. 

While  all  this  is  true,  yet  his  writings  do  not 
show  him  to  have  possessed  the  elements  of  a  I'adical 
reformer.  He  was  not  a  bold  and  heroic  man.  His 
idea  of  a  virtuous  life  was  of  a  nes:ative  and  conserv- 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  289 

ative  type.  He  was  manifestly  a  very  vain  man. 
His  frequent  allusions  to  himself  show  him  to  have 
been  a  most  pronounced  egotist.  He  says,  in  regard 
to  himself:  "At  fifteen  I  had  my  mind  bent  on  learn- 
ing ;  at  thirty  I  stood  firm ;  at  forty  I  had  no  doubts ; 
at  fifty  I  knew  the  decrees  of  Heaven  ;  at  sixty  my  ear 
was  an  obedient  organ  for  the  reception  of  the  truth  ; 
at  seventy  I  could  follow  what  my  heart  desired, 
without  transgressing  what  was  right."  His  claim 
that  he  knew  the  decrees  of  Heaven  was  a  bid  that 
he  should  be  worshiped  as  something  more  than 
human — as  a  sort  of  deity.  From  one  end  to  the 
other  it  is  a  bold  and  unqualified  claim  of  his  excel- 
lence and  godlike  perfection. 

The  delight  with  which  he  received  the  flattery 
that  was  so  bountifully  bestowed  on  him  discloses 
the  fact  that  he  possessed  this  frailty,  so  common  to 
mortals,  in  no  common  measure.  As  it  is  impossible 
for  an  egotist  to  become  a  great  reformer,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  his  strong  desire  to  reform  his 
fellow-men  was  largely  modified  by  the  more  power- 
ful motive  to  be  popular.  And  while  he,  doubtless, 
saw  the  oppression  of  women  in  every  household  in 
the  land — and,  from  his  apparent  kindness  of  heart, 
it  is  but  fair  to  presume  that  he  deplored  it — yet  it 
was  an  evil  the  correction  of  which  would  have 
wrought  a  revolution  in  every  household,  and  he  dare 
not  risk  his  reputation  as  a  sage  and  counselor  in 
attacking  this  popular  crime. 

In  further  corrobation  of  the  fact  that  he  was  an 
exceedingly  vain  man  and  an  unblushing  egotist,  I 
may  be  permitted  to  give  a  few  more  of  his  sayings 

19 


290  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

in  regard  to  liimself.  He  says  :  "  lu  a  hamlet  of  ten 
families  there  may  be  found  one  as  honorable  and 
sincere  as  I  am,  but  not  so  fond  of  learning."  At 
another  time  and  place  he  said:  "After  the  death  of 
King  Wan,  was  not  the  cause  of  truth  lodged  in  mef 
If  heaven  had  wished  to  let  the  cause  of  truth  per- 
ish, then  1,  a  future  mortal,  should  not  have  had 
such  relation  to  that  cause."  Again  he  says  :  "  My 
studies  lie  low,  but  my  penetration  rises  high."  His 
disciple,  Yen,  returning  from  the  court,  Confucius 
asked  him:  ''How  are  you  so  late?"  and  Yen  re- 
plied :  "  We  had  government  business."  Confucius 
replied:  "It  must  have  been  family  aifairs.  If  there 
had  been  government  business,  though  I  am  not  now 
in  office,  I  should  have  been  consulted  about  it." 
We  find  all  through  his  sayings  this  same  offensive 
self-conceit.  In  his  conduct,  by  his  eccentric  bearing 
and  huge  assumptions,  he  was  constantly  making  the 
effort  to  convince  those  about  him  that  he  was  some- 
thing more  than  mortal,  and  he  could  not  conceal  his 
satisfaction  when  he  found  that  his  followers  acceded 
to  his  pretensions. 

Let  us  turn  again  to  Solomon,  and  draw  a  parallel 
between  him  and  Confucius  in  this  regard.  Solomon, 
when  he  wrote  his  proverbs,  was  the  great  king  of  a 
mighty  nation,  at  a  time  when  she  was  in  the  very 
zenith  of  her  glory — a  peerless  monarch,  whose  wis- 
dom was  the  magnet  that  drew  all  the  wise  men  and 
philosophers  of  the  world  to  his  capital.  The  daz- 
zling splendor  of  his  court,  and  the  grandeur  and 
magnificence  that  seemed  to  gather  about  him  and 
attend  him  all  through  his  reign,  excited  the  wonder 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  291 

and  envy  of  every  other  monarch  of  his  time.  The 
exalted  position  he  held,  and  the  honors  that  were 
conferred  upon  him,  only  served  to  make  him  more 
humble. 

Not  only  did  he  have  all  the  glory  that  gathers 
about  the  throne  of  a  great  monarchy,  but  the  dis- 
tinction that  has  secured  the  immortality  of  his  fame 
was  awarded  him  to  build  a  temple  which  M^as  to  be 
the  admiration  of  the  nation  and  the  wonder  of  the 
world — a  temple  around  which  would  gather  all  the 
tribes  of  Israel  in  mass,  once  each  year,  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  great  feast  of  the  passover — a  temple 
which  should  thus  be  surrounded  by  his  whole  peo- 
ple;  and  while  the  mighty  hosts  sang  and  shouted 
praises  to  God  for  the  deliverance  from  the  bondage 
of  Egypt,  the  great  throng  at  the  same  time  would 
gratefully  remember  their  great  king,  who  had  thus 
magnified  all  the  ceremonies  of  Jewish  worship. 

Few  are  the  men  in  history,  either  sacred  or  pro- 
fane, who  have  been  so  honored,  and  none  who  have 
shown  such  humility  from  such  an  exalted  position. 
In  his  Book  of  Proverbs  not  a  boastful  word  can  be 
found — not  a  sentence  indicating  any  assumption  of 
superiority.  He  seemed  intent  only  on  calling  the 
attention  of  his  fellow-men  to  such  precepts  and 
principles,  the  practice  of  which  would  make  the 
world  better  and  their  own  lives  happier. 

In  all  his  proverbs  we  do  not  find  the  misty  and 
negative  philosophy  of  Confucius,  but  a  bold  and 
manly  assault  on  sin  and  iniquity  wherever  it  might 
be  fi)und,  or  by  whomsoever  it  might  be  practiced.  To 
call  attention  to  himself  in  the  spirit  of  self-adulation 


292  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

seemed  to  be  no  part  of  his  purpose.  In  the  Book 
of  Eeclesiastes  he  speaks  of  his  high  position,  not  in 
terms  of  self-praise  or  in  a  spirit  of  vainglory,  but 
to  enforce  the  great  truth  that  no  mere  earthly 
honors  or  pleasures  are  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  im- 
mortal mind  of  man.  He  frankly  admits  that,  while 
he  had  reached  the  very  topmost  round  in  the  lad- 
der of  human  promotion,  all  earthly  greatness  was 
but  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.  He  gives  to  the 
world  this  chaj^ter  of  his  experience  in  the  following 
Avords : 

'^  I,  the  Preacher,  was  king  over  Israel  in  Jeru- 
salem. I  made  me  great  works ;  I  builded  me  houses; 
I  planted  me  vineyards;  I  made  me  gardens  and 
orchards,  and  I  planted  trees  in  them  of  all  kinds  of 
fruit;  I  made  me  pools  of  water,  to  water  therewith 
the  wood  that  bringeth  forth  trees;  I  got  me 
servants  and  maidens,  and  had  servants  born  in  my 
house ;  also  I  had  great  possessions  of  great  and 
small  cattle  above  all  that  were  before  me  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  I  gathered  me  also  silver  and  gold,  and  the 
peculiar  treasure  of  kings  and  of  the  provinces  ;  I  got 
me  men  singers  and  women  singers,  and  the  delights 
of  the  sons  of  men,  as  musical  instruments,  and  that  of 
all  sorts.  So  I  was  great,  and  increased  more  than 
all  that  were  before  me  in  Jerusalem;  also  my  wisdom 
remained  with  me.  And  whatsoever  mine  eyes  de- 
sired, I  kept  not  from  them;  I  withheld  not  my 
heart  from  any  joy ;  for  my  heart  rejoiced  in  all  my 
labor:  and  this  was  my  portion  of  all  my  labor.  Then 
I  looked  on  all  the  works  that  my  hands  had  wrought, 
and  on    the  labor   that    I    had    labored  to   do :    and, 


COIVFUCIUS  AND   SOLOMON.  293 

beliokl,  all  was  vauity  and  vexation  of  spirit,  and 
there  was  no  profit  under  the  sun." 

These  words,  thus  quoted  from  this  book  in  the 
Bible,  show  the  spirit  and  tenor  of  that  wonderful 
sermon  of  Solomon.  After  considering  every  phase 
of  human  life,  and  the  many  things  that  excite  the 
passionate  ambition  of  men,  at  the  very  end  of  the 
book,  he  says :  "  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter:  Fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments; 
for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man." 

It  is  claimed  by  the  admirers  of  Confucius  that  it 
was  he,  and  not  Christ,  who  first  proclaimed  the 
Golden  Rule.  This  is  not  true.  The  maxim  of  Con- 
fucius, upon  which  this  claim  Avas  based,  is  not  a 
golden  rule.  He  says :  "  What  you  do  not  want 
done  to  yourself,  do  not  to  others."  It  is  only  the 
negative  side  to  the  principle  of  reciprocity.  It 
is  not  golden,  because  it  is  negative.  The  Golden 
Rule  of  Christ  is:  "All  things  whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them." 

This,  the  grandest  maxim  of  Confucius,  falls  as  far 
short  of  that  of  the  Savior  as  the  sluggish,  stationary 
civilization  of  the  Chinese  is  inferior  to  the  active, 
positive,  and  progressive  civilization  of  the  followers 
of  Solomon  and  Christ.  The  style  of  the  writings  of 
Solomon  is  much  superior  to  that  of  Confucius. 
That  of  the  former  shows  him  to  have  been  possessed 
of  a  mind  with  clear,  well-defined  and  positive  con- 
victions. 

The  writings  of  Confucius  disclose  that  his  great 
mind  was  inclined  to  soar  away  into  the  misty  regions 


294  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

of  mere  seutimeutality.  Many  of  bis  maxims  are  so 
airy  and  extravagant  that  it  is  impossible  to  compre- 
hend their  meaning.  In  some  instances,  if  the 
translation  of  his  writings  be  correct,  it  is  impossible 
to  believe  that  he  himself  nnderstood  what  he  wrote. 
His  meaning  is  very  often  exceedingly  obscure,  and 
is  frequently  entirely  incomprehensible.  In  his  book 
entitled  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,"  this  defect  in 
style  is  the  most  observable.  In  his  argument  in 
favor  of  the  practice  of  sincerity,  he  says :  "  Hence, 
to  entire  sincerity  there  belongs  ceaselessness.  Not 
ceasing,  it  continues  long.  Continuing  long,  it  evi- 
dences itself.  Evidencing  itself,  it  reaches  far.  Reach- 
ing far,  it  becomes  large  and  substantial.  Large  and 
substantial,  it  becomes  high  and  brilliant.  Large  and 
substantial,  this  is  how  it  contains  all  things.  High 
and  brilliant,  this  is  how  it  overspreads  all  things. 
Reaching  far  and  continuing  long,  this  is  how  it  per- 
fects all  things.  So  large  and  substantial,  the  indi- 
vidual possessing  it  is  the  co-equal  of  earth.  So  high 
and  brilliant,  it  makes  him  the  co-equal  of  heaven. 
So  far-reaching  and  long  continuing,  it  makes  him 
infinite.  Such  being  its  nature, — without  any  display, 
it  becomes  manifested ;  without  any  movement,  it  pro- 
duces changes;  and  without  any  effort,  it  accomplishes 
its  ends.  The  way  of  heaven  and  earth  may  be  com- 
pletely declared  in  one  sentence :  They  are  without 
any  doubleness,  and  so  they  produce  things  in  a  way 
that  is  unfathomable." 

Had  Solomon  or  Christ  in  their  teachings  said 
anything  in  their  writings  so  silly  and  mysterious, 
what  a  point  of  assault  it  would  have  been  for  the 


Confucius  and  Solomon.  295 

iufidel !  Huw  would  siicli  transceiuleut  nonseu.sc  have 
been  held  up  by  the  skeptic  as  couclusive  evidence 
that  the  claim  of  the  diviue  iuspiration  of  the  Bible 
is  a  fraud !  Yet  they  send  forth  their  polished  eulo- 
gium  of  the  Chinese  philosopher,  who  utters  these 
airy  nothings,  as  the  very  embodiment  of  wisdom  and 
philosophy. 

The  result  of  the  teachings  of  Solomon  and 
Christ  is  a  Christian  civilization.  The  result  of  the 
teachings  of  Confucius  is  the  civilization  of  the 
Chinese;  a  civilization  like  that  produced  by  the 
system  of  Buddha,  of  Bralnnanism,  of  Mohammed — 
a  stationary  civilization.  What  China  was  a  thou- 
sand years  ago,  she  is  to-day.  There  is  no  progress. 
There  is  no  reasonable  hope  that,  so  long  as  she 
clings  to  the  doctrines  of  Confucius  and  rejects  the 
Bible,  she  will  ever  move  upward  to  any  higher 
plane.  Her  only  mark  of  distinction  will  continue 
to  be  the  almost  endless  number  of  her  people. 
The  men  of  China  will  remain  the  enemies  of  prog- 
ress, with  no  true  conception  of  human  duty  or 
destiny ;  the  women  will  remain  mere  chattels  and 
slaves,  and  the  somber  mantle  of  superstition  will 
continue  to  envelop  the  whole  race  in  the  darkness 
of  heathenism. 

What  our  Christian  religion  is,  and  what  it  is 
doing  for  the  elevation  of  the  human  race,  presents 
such  an  incontrovertible  array  of  facts  that  they  are 
silencing  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  system.  It  is 
overthrowing  the  thrones  of  despotism;  it  is  dispell- 
ing the  dark  clouds  of  superstition  that  had  settled 
down    on    the   human   soul;    it   is  awakening  in   the 


296  Confucius  and  Solomon. 

mind  of  man  a  proper  conception  of  its  powers  and 
capabilities;  it  is  calling  into  exercise  all  those  great 
gifts,  with  the  inspiring  faith  that  God  has  impressed 
his  own  image  on  every  soul  of  man,  and  invested 
him  with  his  own  immortality. 


CHRISTIANITY  AS  A  CIVILIZING  FORCE. 

THE  most  powerful  factor  in  the  civilization  of  the 
world  and  the  elevation  of  the  human  race  is 
the  Christian  religion.  The  pure  morality  of  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  and  their  beauty  reflected  on  the 
ages  for  nearly  two  thousand  years  from  his  own  life 
and  conduct  among  men,  has  changed  the  whole  na- 
ture and  purpose  of  the  human  race.  It  has  not  only 
dispelled  the  dark  cloud  of  ignorance  and  supersti- 
tion that  enveloped  the  human  family,  but  the  human 
mind,  stupefied  with  the  gross  sensuality  of  barba- 
rism, and  besotted  with  the  vices  that  seem  inseparably 
connected  with  it,  has  been  awakened  to  a  better  and 
fuller  comprehension  of  its  powers,  and  aroused  and 
stirred  to  attain  the  higher  and  nobler  manhood  that 
the  Christian  religion  reveals. 

As  a  result,  human  life  is  longer  and  every  day 
happier.  The  cruel  savage  nature  has  been  softened 
and  subdued,  and  the  deep  and  ugly  lines  of  hate  and 
revenge  that  marred  and  made  hideous  the  human 
face  have  given  place  to  the  beautiful  smiles  of  regard 
and  love.  The  better  comprehension  of  the  laws 
that  bring  health  and  strength,  and  the  importance  of 
their  observance,  has  banished  many  diseases  that 
preyed  on  humanity,  and  the  rose  of  health  has  been 
implanted  on  the  bloated  and  faded  face  of  humanity. 

Delivered  at  the  Chautauquaa  Assembly  at  Long  Beach, 
California. 

297 


298      Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

Year  bv  year  more  comfortable  houses  are  beiug 
built  for  lK)uies,  and  iu  every  direction  are  discovered 
improvements  for  the  betterment  of  the  condition  of 
the  human  family.  With  this  has  also  come  a  clearer 
and  broader  comprehension  of  the  rights  of  man. 
He  has  grown  mentally  and  morally  as  well  as 
physically.  He  has  come  to  see  and  know  that  the 
humblest  peasant  has  the  same  right  to  life  and  lib- 
erty and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  as  the  proudest 
monarch  on  his  throne,  and  this  subtle  and  potent 
influence  is  overthrowing  despotism,  breaking  the 
chains  of  slavery,  and  sapping  the  very  foundation 
of  tyranny  and  oppression. 

There  is  no  culture  that  has  so  touched  man  on 
every  side  and  bettered  his  condition  as  Christian 
culture.  A  civilization  without  Christ  is  not  worthy 
the  name.  Before  he  came  into  the  world,  I  concede, 
there  were  vast  empires,  with  great  armies  and  power- 
ful navies ;  man  had  reached  a  high  degree  of  art, 
and  architecture  had  given  him  gorgeous  palaces 
and  beautiful  cities ;  he  had  poetry  and  music. 

But  what  was  the  condition  of  the  great  mass  of 
humanity?  They  were  groping  their  uncertain  way 
in  darkness  and  doubt,  with  no  just  conception  of  their 
own  powers,  with  little  or  no  knowledge  of  duty  or 
deotiny,  almost  as  helpless  and  powerless  to  care  for 
themselves  as  the  beasts  of  the  field.  And  their 
mighty  men,  their  statesmen  and  rulers,  their  mon- 
archs  and  commanders  of  their  armies,  were  but 
-iupes  in  the  hands  of  soothsayers  and  magicians,  or 
governed  by  the  uncertain  and  meaningless  ravings 
of  a  priestess  at  Delphi,     The  lives  of  millions   and 


Christianity  as  a  Cii  ihzixg  Force.      299 

the  flestiuies  of  empires  were  determined  by  the  di- 
rection that  a  bird  might  fly,  when  some  great  enter- 
prise was  to  be  inaugurated.  One  generation  fol- 
lowed another  in  the  same  dark  and  hopeless  path, 
and  no  light  came  to  show  them  a  better  way.  The 
great  masses  of  men  were  pinched  with  hunger  and 
fell  victims  to  famine,  or  were  destroyed  by  the  pes- 
tilence "  that  walketh  in  darkness  or  wasteth  at  noon- 
day," or  perished  on  the  field  of  battle  to  gratify  the 
lust  for  power  and  dominion  of  the  bloody  despots 
who  claimed  authority  to  rule. 

This  is  not  an  overdrawn  picture.  The  profane 
historian  will  corroborate  the  statement.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  heathen  world  to-day  shows  a  like  deplor- 
able condition  of  humanity. 

I  am  aware  that  the  learned  skeptic  and  the  highly 
cultivated  scientist,  in  attempting  to  write  the  history 
of  civilization  and  human  progress,  seek  for  other 
causes,  and  construct  theories  about  the  climate  and 
purer  blood  and  higher  nobility  of  race,  and  give 
these  the  credit  for  human  development.  But  these 
theories  will  not  stand  the  test  of  fair  and  honest  in- 
vestigation. Let  us  take  our  own  race — the  noble 
Anglo-Saxon — a  race  that  has  produced  men  of  the 
stamp  of  a  Hampden,  or  a  Washington,  or  a  Lincoln, 
or  a  Gladstone ;  a  race  that  can  justly  boast  of 
grander  achievements  in  science  and  art  and  in  letters 
than  any  other ;  a  race  that  has  gone  in  triumph  all 
around  the  world,  and  taken  possession  of  the  isles 
of  the  sea  by  the  thousands ;  a  race  with  a  literature 
unequaled  among  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  a  race 
that  in  the  last  century  has  furnished  the   world   the 


300      Christianity  as  a  CiriiiziNC  Force. 

railroad,  the  stcaiiiHliip,  the  telegrai)h,  the  telephone, 
the  sewing-machiue,  the  electric  light ;  a  race  that 
has  put  in  every  home  all  manner  of  labor-saving 
machines,  and  thus  lightened  the  burdens  of  man's  life 
and  saved  him  from  the  wear  and  tear  of  manual 
labor;  a  race  in  all  respects  bold  and  aggressive, 
presenting  the  highest  and  best  type  of  manhood. 

But  follow  backward  the  history  of  this  race 
until  you  reach  the  point  where  they  had  not  heard  of 
Christ.  With  the  same  climate,  the  same  blood  flow- 
ing through  their  veins,  and  the  same  nobility  of 
race,  whatever  that  may  be,  what  do  we  find?  We 
find  barbarians  dressed  in  the  skins  of  beasts  they 
had  themselves  slain,  living  in  wretched  hovels,  the 
victims  of  the  lowest  vices,  and  as  ignorant  as  the 
naked  savage  at  the  equator,  or  the  barbarian  at  the 
North  Pole.  They  had  no  history.  They  had  done 
nothing  to  make  history.  They  seemed  to  emerge 
from  the  fog-bank  of  legend  and  mythology. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  so  noble  and 
mighty  a  people  should  have  been  once  so  low  in  the 
scale  of  being — a  people  existing  on  the  lowest  ani- 
mal plane,  utterly  destitute  of  any  of  the  culture  and 
•refinements  that  noM'  so  distinguish  them,  and  with 
little  or  no  conception  of  human  rights,  and  almost 
wholly  without  any  civil  government.  From  such  a 
j)it  of  degradation  has  the  Anglo-Saxon  been  lifted. 
Even  human  life  had  no  sacredness,  and,  by  law, 
bloody  murder  could  be  atoned  for  by  the  payment  of 
a  small  sum  of  money.  Yet  the  skeptic  talks  flip- 
pantly about  that  indefinable  something,  as  innate  no- 
bility of  race,  that  has  brought  the  Anglo-Saxon  up. 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.     301 

Why  was  it  dormant  so  long?  As  late  as  the 
tenth  century,  according  to  the  code  of  King  Ath- 
elstan,  the  taking  of  human  life  could  be  paid  for  in 
money,  and  the  price  was  fixed  by  law  according  to 
the  rank  of  the  person  murdered.  Fifteen  hundred 
dollars  was  the  value  of  the  life  of  a  king;  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  the  life  of  a  prince;  four  hundred 
was  paid  for  a  bishop;  two  hundred  dollars  was  the 
value  of  a  sheriff;  one  hundred  for  slaying  a  priest, 
and  thirteen  dollars  for  murdering  an  ordinary  man. 
Whether  any  value  was  attached  to  the  life  of  a 
woman,  I  am  not  advised ;  but  I  presume  not. 

And  the  little  history  we  have  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
before  they  accepted  Christianity  shows  that  these  in- 
fluences outside  of  Christianity,  which  the  infidel  claims 
are  so  potent,  had  no  effect  upon  them.  They  made 
no  progress.  Century  after  century  they  remained 
in  the  same  beastly  condition  of  filth  and  degradation. 

It  is  fair  to  conclude  that  it  was  not  their  noble 
blood,  or  the  favoring  breezes  of  a  temperate  zone, 
that  have  called  into  being  this  better  and  higher 
order  of  manhood.  It  is  the  inspiration  of  the  great 
truths  of  man's  immortality,  the  inhaling  of  the  pure 
precepts  and  teachings  of  a  sinless  Christ,  and  the 
blood  that  has  wrought  this  revolution  is  that  shed 
on  Calvary  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 

Whether  under  the  equator,  or  the  ice-bound 
regions  at  the  poles ;  whether  in  the  land  of  per- 
petual and  ever-blooming  flowers ;  whether  in  the 
land  of  eternal  snows  and  ice  ;  whether  on  the  tops 
of  the  sterile  mountain  crags,  above  the  clouds,  or  in 
the  fertile  valley  covered  with  never  fading  verdure, 


302     Christianity  as  a  Civilizisg  Force. 

or  in  the  isles  of  the  sea,  where  man  has  accepted 
Christ  and  made  his  life  and  teachings  his  guide,  is 
found  this  noble  manhood  and  purer  civilization. 

Latitude  and  longitude,  race  and  climate,  do  not 
seem  to  change,  or  in  the  least  degree  to  modify  the 
effect.  Where  Christianity  is  accepted,  its  salutary 
effects  can  be  seen  alike  in  every  nation,  people,  or  clime. 
The  effort  to  rob  it  of  its  well-won  laurels  as 
the  miglity  civilizing  agency  is  a  miserable  failure. 
The  boldest  and  most  reckless  infidel  has  not  yet 
had  the  audacity  to  undertake  to  show  that  the  high- 
est types  of  men,  and  the  haj>piest  homes,  and  the 
best  laws,  and  the  most  permanent  and  most  liberal 
governments,  are  found  in  other  than  Christian  lands. 

In  Leckey's ''  History  of  Rationalism  "  may  be  found 
this  eloquent  tribute  to  a  pure  Christianity ;  and, 
coming  from  one  w^ho  is  regarded  as  high  authority 
among  skeptics,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  a  glorious 
triumph  for  the  cause  so  dear  to  all  Christian  hearts. 
He  says:  "If  we  were  to  judge  the  present  position 
of  Christianity  by  the  tenets  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
if  we  were  to  measure  it  by  the  orthodox  zeal  of  the 
great  doctors  of  the  past,  we  might  well  look  upon 
its  prospects  with  the  deepest  despondency  and 
alarm. 

"  The  spirit  of  the  fathers  has  incontestably  faded. 
The  days  of  Athanasius  and  Augustine  have  passed 
away,  never  to  return.  The  whole  course  and  tend- 
ency of  thought  is  flowing  in  another  direction. 
The  controversies  of  bygone  centuries  ring  with  a 
strange  hoUow'ness  on  the  ear. 

"But  if,  turning  from  ecclesiastical  historians,  we 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizixg  Force.     303 

apj)ly  the  exclusively  moral  test  Avhich  the  New 
Testament  so  invariably  antl  so  emphatically  en- 
forces; if  we  ask  whether  Christianity  has  ceased  to 
produce  the  living  fruits  of  love  and  charity  and 
zeal  for  the  truth,  the  conclusion  we  should  arrive  at 
wonld  be  very  different.  If  it  be  true  Christianity 
to  dive,  with  a  passionate  charity,  into  the  darkest 
recesses  of  misery  and  vice,  to  irrigate  every  quarter 
of  the.  earth  with  the  fertilizing  stream  of  an  almost 
boundless  benevolence,  and  to  include  all  societies  of 
humanity  in  the  circle  of  an  intense  and  efficacious 
sympathy;  if  it  be  true  Christianity  to  destroy  and 
weaken  the  barriers  which  had  separated  class  from 
class,  and  nation  from  nation,  to  free  war  from  its 
harshest  elements,  and  to  make  a  consciousness  of  es- 
sential equality  and  of  genuine  fraternity  dominate 
over  all  accidental  differences;  if  it  be,  above  all,  true 
Christianity  to  cultivate  a  love  of  truth  for  its  own 
sake,  a  spirit  of  candor  and  tolerance  towards  those 
with  whom  we  differ, — if  these  be  the  marks  of  true 
and  healthy  Christianity,  then  never  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles  has  it  been  so  vigorous  as  at  the 
present." 

The  assaults  that  have  been  made  on  Christianity 
by  the  polished  skeptical  historians,  who  claimed  to 
have  solved  the  mysterious  problem  of  human  prog- 
ress, have  not  been  aimed  at  its  code  of  morals,  but 
rather  at  the  Church  as  an  organization. 

The  Church  claiming  civil  authority,  or  allied 
with  and  the  main  supporter  of  despotism,  is  not 
the  Church  of  Christ.  A  Church  claiming  the  right 
to  compel  mankind  to  accept  her  dogmas — a  Church* 


304     Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.  \ 

knowiug  no  toleration,  and  whose  hands  are  red  with 
the  blood  of  persecution — is  no  more  the  representa- 
tive of  Christianity  than  the  car  of  Juggernaut  or 
the  guillotine  of  the  French  Revolution. 

In  the  darker  ages,  when  education  was  confined 
to  the  few,  and  ignorance  for  the  many  was  regarded 
as  the  mother  of  devotion,  these  things  were  done, 
and  the  wrongs  and  outrages  were  charged  up  to  the 
account  of  religion.  But  Christianity  is  one  thing, 
and  religion  is  another.  A  religion  that  is  not  per- 
meated with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  is  not  under  its 
supreme  control,  is  not  the  Christian  religion. 

Yet  with  all  the  evils  growing  out  of  a  union  of 
Church  and  State,  and  all  the  bloody  history  of  such 
an  unholy  alliance,  Guizot,  the  historian,  felt  com- 
pelled to  make  this  confession :  "  Notwithstanding 
all  the  evil,  all  the  abuses,  Avhich  may  have  crept 
into  the  Church — notwithstanding  all  the  acts  of  tyr- 
anny of  which  she  has  been  guilty — we  must  still 
acknowledge  her  influence  on  the  progress  and  cul- 
ture of  the  human  intellect  to  have  been  beneficial; 
that  she  has  assisted  in  its  development  rather  than  its 
compression,  in  its  extension  rather  than  its  con- 
finement." 

Henry  Thomas  Buckle,  in  his  wonderful  "  History 
of  Civilization,"  attempts  to  count  Christianity  out  as 
one  of  the  important  factors  in  the  progress  and  de- 
v^elopment  of  the  race.  He  says :  "  Looking  at 
things  upon  a  large  scale,  the  religion  of  mankind 
is  the  effect  of  their  improvement,  and  not  the 
cause   of   it." 

While  we  deny  in  toto  the  truth  of  the  statement, 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.    305 

yet  admitting  its  correctness,  he  pays  a  compliment  to 
religion.  If,  as  he  argues,  intellectual  activity  must 
precede  religious  convictions,  then  the  fact  that  the 
improved  man  grasps  at  Christianity  as  a  round  in  a 
ladder  to  raise  him  higher  in  his  aspirations  to  at- 
tain to  the  noblest  and  best,  is  a  confession  that 
Christianity  is  at  last,  if  not  at  first,  an  elevating  force. 

The  impartial  historian  of  the  human  race,  who 
writes  not  to  bolster  up  a  jjreconceived  opinion,  but 
to  find  out  the  mysterious  forces  that  awaken  the 
human  mind  to  even  a  feeble  conception  of  its  powers, 
and  continues  to  rouse  it  to  a  wider  range  of  vision, 
must  give  Christianity  the  first,  and  not  the  last  place. 
Impress  upon  the  benighted  mind  of  the  barbarian,  on 
the  feeble  intellect  of  the  child,  that  God  is  the 
Father  of  all,  and  has  stamped  his  own  divine  image 
on  every  soul ;  and  that  the  infinite  and  boundless 
love  of  the  All-Father  goes  out  to  all  his  children; 
that  all  alike  are  equal  to  him ;  and  this  life  is  but 
the  preparatory  life  for*  the  better  one  beyond, — and 
then  you  have  the  very  starting-point  on  the  high- 
way of  human  progress. 

Let  the  great  truth  be  accepted  that  one  omnis- 
cient God  created  the  universe,  and  made  laws  for  its 
government ;  and  the  desire  to  know  the  operation  of 
those  evidences  of  his  wisdom  and  goodness  energizes 
the  human  mind  and  stirs  the  human  soul  as  nothing 
else  has  ever  done.  Science  is  the  child  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  not  the  parent;  and  knowledge  is  not  the 
forerunner,  but  the  follower. 

To  comprehend  and  understand  the  laws  that  God 
has  made  governing  mind  and  matter,  is  the  highest 

20 


306     Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

aim  of  science.  To  accomplish  this,  oue  scientist 
brings  the  magnifying  power  of  the  telescope  on  the 
countless  worlds  above  him;  and  another  puts  the 
atoms  of  matter  under  the  microscope,  and  compels 
them  to  surrender  their  mysteries,  and  disclose  where 
the  finger  of  the  Unseen  has  written  the  law  for  their 
govern menl.  The  learned  metaphysician  invades  the 
inner  temple  of  God's  creation,  the  very  sanctum 
sanctorum  of  his  omnipotent  work,  the  human 
mind;  and  he  is  overwhelmed  with  the  evidences  that 
the  Maker  and  Author  of  all  this  mystery  had  not 
only  infinite  intelligence,  but  was  moved  with  bound- 
less love. 

The  biography  of  these  learned  men,  in  many 
cases,  Avould  disclose  the  fact  that  a  Christian  moth- 
er's love  revealed  to  them  their  first  knowledge  of 
the  existence  of  the  All-Father,  and  incited  them  to 
cultivate  and  develop  their  mental  powers  to  the 
highest  point,  that  they  might  penetrate  the  myster- 
ies of  his  works.  This  Avas  the  grand  incentive  that 
put  the  youthful  student  at  his  life's  work.  If  the 
mother  had  been  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  or  the  wor- 
shiper of  the  blind  god  of  Chance,  or  an  evolution- 
ist, the  learned  scientist  would  never  have  penetrated 
the  arcanum  of  nature.  But  with  an  ingratitude 
strange  as  it  is  senseless,  some  of  these  scientists,  in 
their  later  life,  ambitious  to  be  called  advanced  think- 
ers, attempt  to  reason  God  out  of  his  own  universe, 
and  to  ascribe  all  the  wonder,  majesty,  power,  beauty, 
goodness,  and  harmony  of  his  works  to  the  accidents 
of  chance  or  the  effect  of  an   indefinable  evolution. 

Well  did   the  sweet   singer  of  Israel  say,  "  The 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.    307 

fool  Ims  said  in  his  heart  there  is  uo  God."  But  all 
the  folly  does  not  arrest  the  march  of  truth.  As  the 
generations  come  and  go,  the  dial-plate  of  human 
progress  records  that  an  advance  has  been  made. 
The  motive  power  and  elevating  force  that  is  thus 
surely  lifting  the  human  race  to  a  higher  plane  is  the 
Christian   religion. 

What,  then,  is  the  secret  of  this  power  ?  What  is 
the  essential  quality,  the  essence,  of  this  reformatory 
and  elevating  force? 

To  these  questions  would  come  a  great  variety  of 
answers.  The  sectarian  would  declare  that  it  Avas  the 
construction  put  on  the  teachings  of  Scripture  by  his 
Church,  and  the  adherence  to  the  venerable  forms  and 
ceremonies  adopted  long  since  by  ecclesiastical  courts 
and  councils.  Another,  rejecting  the  idea  of  a  reign  of 
law,  and  having  the  fullest  faith  in  a  constant  and  con- 
tinual intervention  of  special  providence,  would  an- 
swer that  the  Almighty  directed  every  movement,  and 
that  man  was  the  mere  passive  agent,  responding 
only  to  the  supernatural  influences  thus  brought  to 
bear  upon  him.  Some  would  reply  with  l(»ng  statis- 
tical tables,  showing  the  number  of  ministers  and 
churches  and  Sabbath-schools,  colleges  and  universi- 
ties, the  millions  and  hundreds  of  millions  who  have 
their  names  on  the  Church-rolls,  and  the  great  wealth 
they  possess  to  carry  forward  the  work  of  evangelis- 
ing the  world.  Some  would  claim  that  the  strength 
of  religion  consisted  in  an  abiding  faith  and  trust; 
and  others,  in  ceaseless  work  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 
The  rejilies  M'ould  be  too  numerous  to  repeat.  It 
might   safely    be   asserted    that   all    of    them    would 


308     Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

contain  some  truth,  and  perhaps  none  of  them  would 
be  free  from  error. 

In  order  to  solve  the  difficult  problem,  let  us  re- 
duce the  question  to  the  very  narrowest  bounds. 
Take  an  individual  Church  of  any  denomination,  and 
Jet  us  try  to  discover  the  measure  of  its  power  and  in- 
fluence on  those  who  live  within  the  sound  of  its 
church-bell.  It  is  not  the  costly  edifice  erected  for 
worship,  the  height  of  the  church-steeple,  the  width 
of  its  richly  carpeted  aisles,  its  expensive  pews,  its  gor- 
geous frescoing,  or  its  grand  organ.  It  is  not  that  the 
members  are  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  town  or 
city,  or  that  the  great  and  influential  fill  the  pews. 
It  is  not  that  it  has  a  choir  that  can  compete  with 
the  opera  in  the  excellence  of  musical  performance. 
It  is  not  that  the  minister  may  have  a  world-wide  rep- 
utation for  eloquence,  so  that  people  cross  the  continent, 
and  even  the  ocean,  that  they  may  have  it  to  say  that 
they  have  seen  and  heard  him.  A  Church  may  have 
all  these  and  many  other  apparent  advantages,  yet  if 
the  spirit  of  the  Master  is  not  there,  they  are  none  of 
his.  They  are  not  in  the  battle  of  sin  and  wrong;  it 
is  the  mere  dress-parade.  It  is  not  the  forward  march  ; 
it  is  but  marking  time. 

The  power  of  Christianity  is  not  visible.  The 
visible  and  material  that  attach  themselves  to  re- 
ligious observances  may  add  to  their  force;  and  they 
may  detract  from  it.  If  religious  worship  is  the  mere 
observance  of  Church  requirement;  if  the  tone  and 
manner  of  it  is  but  the  compliance  with  the  fashion  and 
style  of  religious  ceremony, — then  nothing  is  accom- 
plished by  it.     It  is  a  mere  travesty  on  Christianity, 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.    309 

The  strength  of  the  Church  is  not  her  wealth,  or 
her  ancient  creeds,  or  the  pomp  of  her  ceremonies. 
The  Pharisee  had  all  these  things  at  the  time  of  the 
Savior;  yet  the  Master  denounced  him  as  a  hypocrite 
and  a  robber. 

The  power  and  force  of  any  organization  consists 
in  the  number  of  its  members  who  are  so  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ  that  the  chief  ambition  of 
their  lives  is  to  be  as  near  like  him  as  it  is  possible 
for  poor,  weak  human  nature  to  be.  This  invisible 
power  is  the  force  that  has  elevated  man  and  revo- 
lutionized the  world,  and  is  constantly  widening  the 
area  of  civilization.  It  drives  out  the  dark  brood  of 
evil  spirits — hate,  malice,  envy,  jealousy,  avarice,  and 
pride — and  calls  in  love,  charity,  benevolence,  and 
humility.  These  godlike  sjjirits  take  control  of  hu- 
man life  and  action  ;  as  the  new  man  comes  in  con- 
tact with  his  fellow-men,  they  see  the  great  change 
and  note  the  conversion  ;  and  thus  the  divine  leaven 
goes  out  into  the  social  life  of  humanity,  and  silently 
yet  surely  works  reformation.  And  just  in  propor- 
tion as  the  individual  Church  sends  out  this  blessed 
influence  from  its  walls  is  it  strong,  and  an  important 
factor  in  the  improvement  of  the  race.  The  persons 
w^ho  have  this  spirit  may  be  poor  and  without  influ- 
ence, yet  they  do  the  work  at  last. 

The  great  mass  of  the  business  Avorld,  and  those 
whose  large  fortunes  beget  a  disposition  to  spend 
their  time  in  the  gratification  of  their  tastes  and  ap- 
petites, may  sneer,  or  at  least  give  but  little  thought  to 
the  comparatively  few  who  gladly  hear  the  church-bell, 
and  with  sincere  and  earnest  hearts  go  to  the  place  of 


310     Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

prayer  and  worship.  They  do  not  stop  to  consider, 
that  all  those  little  churches  are  centers  of  influence; 
that  here  conscience  is  awakened  to  a  keener  con- 
ception of  right  and  justice;  that  here  is  given  a 
deeper  and  broader  view  of  the  significance  of  human 
existence ;  and  that  these  forces  modify  and  correct 
public  sentiment;  that  they  form  public  opinion,  and 
write  the  statutes  against  wrong,  and  bring  the  vio- 
lator of  law  to  justice.  It  does  much  more  than  this: 
it  gives  a  sense  of  safety  and  security  to  every  citi- 
zen in  constantly  giving  him  better  laws  and  a  more 
stable  government.  It  stills  the  angry  and  unreason- 
ing mob,  and  prompts  the  courts  to  go  forward  in  the 
faithful  and  impartial  enforcement  of  law. 

And  while  the  people  who  give  no  thought  and 
care  nothing  for  Christianity,  in  their  hot  pursuit  for 
riches,  or  their  restless  ambition  to  attain  the  world's 
honors,  may  ignore  the  little  church  and  the  Christians 
who  love  it,  yet  to  it  are  they  indebted  for  the  pro- 
tection of  their  fortunes ;  and  they  also  fail  to  remem- 
ber that  the  right  to  worship  God,  untrammeled,  led 
our  fathers  to  land  on  the  sterile  rocks  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  found  a  government  where  the  honors  of 
official  position  would  be  in  the  reach,  not  of  a  royal 
family  only,  but  of  every  citizen. 

The  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  general  dis- 
semination of  the  knowledge  of  the  ethics  of  the 
New  Testament,  is  the  source  of  opposition  and  agi- 
tation when  great  social  and  civil  wrongs  exist.  It 
is  the  death-knell  of  tyranny.  It  wrests  from  the 
grip  of  tyrants  the  right  they  have  stolen  from  men. 
It    has  overthrown   many    a   despot,  and   limited  the 


Christianity  AS  a  Civilizing  Force.      311 

prerogative  of  many  a  monarch,  and  restored  to  op- 
pressed humanity  what  God  had  given  to  his  children. 

The  stern  and  staltwart  Puritan  hurled  his  anathe- 
mas at  the  wicked  and  cruel  oppressions  of  a  British 
king,  and  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  the  American  Union  with  its 
broad  toleration  and  equal  rights  for  all, were  the  result. 

The  cupidity  of  the  British  slave-trader  had  fast- 
ened on  the  Colonies  the  curse  of  human  slavery,  and 
Whitney's  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  made  it  very 
profitable  to  the  slaveholder,  so  that  it  not  only  in- 
trenched itself  behind  the  mercenary  interests  of  the 
slaveholder,  but  secured  constitutional  guarantees 
and  laws  for  its  protection.  When  the  muttering 
storm  of  agitation  began  to  be  heard,  it  fortified  itself 
with  compromises,  and  placed  its  supporters  in  the 
chair  of  State  and  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  and  thought 
itself  secure.  But  Thomas  Jefferson  said,  in  speak- 
ing of  its  perpetuity,  that  "  he  trembled  when  he 
remembered  that  God  was  just,  and  that  some  time  the 
alarm  would  come  like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night."  So 
it  did  come.  And  it  came  from  those  who  had  been 
taught  the  Golden  Rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  unto  you,  do  you  even  so  unto  them." 

Beneath  all  the  tinkering  of  politicians  and  the 
compromise  legislation  of  law-makers,  was  the  con- 
science of  the  Nation  awakened  and  aroused,  and 
clamored  for  justice  to  the  downtrodden  race.  It 
could  not  be  hushed  by  expedients.  The  toys  and 
tricks  of  mere  policy  could  not  lure  it  away  from  its 
unswerving  devotion  and  allegiance  to  principle.  The 
Agitation  went  on  and  on,  and  deeper  and   wider  be- 


312      Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

came  its  current,  until  it  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
land  the  last  vestige  of  the  offending  evil. 

From  whence  came  this  quickened  conscience  and 
this  uncompromising  moral  sense?  AVhy  did  millions 
of  men  rush  to  the  deadly  conflict?  AVliat  was  it 
that  made  liberty  so  dear  and  slavery  so  hateful  and 
hideous?  Who  can  get  the  consent  of  his  mind  that 
the  philosophy  of  the  scientist,  or  the  labored  statis- 
tics of  the  political  economist,  could  have  Avrought 
out  such  a  revolution  ?  AVho  will  be  bold  enough  to 
deny  that  it  was  the  Christ  of  the  ages,  with  his  stately 
stepping,  demanding  equal  justice  to  all  men? 

There  is  another  great  evil,  whose  dark  shadow 
falls  across  every  hearth-stone  in  the  land.  It  is  a 
standing  menace  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  every 
home  in  the  Nation.  It  is  the  open  foe  to  education 
and  religion.  It  has  done  more  to  hinder  and  retard  the 
civilization  of  the  race  than  any  other  evil.  In  every 
community  may  be  found  the  wretched  victims  of  this 
curse,  with  broken  and  shattered  constitutions,  and 
dazed  and  bewildered  intellects.  In  every  jail,  peni- 
tentiary, and  lunatic  asylum  may  be  found  the  count- 
less numbers  sent  there  by  this  wicked  business.  The 
statistics  of  crime,  pauperism,  and  insanity  it  fur- 
nishes are  appalling.  Every  true  Christian  Church 
in  the  land  is  the  open  foe  to  this  enemy  of  human- 
ity, and  every  true  minister  of  the  gospel  of  Christ 
is  constantly  stirring  up  the  consciences  of  his  mem- 
bers to  keep  up  the  warfare. 

The  most  casual  observer  can  but  note  the  con- 
stantly rising  tide  of  public  sentiment  against  the 
men    Mho    make    drunkards.     The    victories   gained 


Christianity  as  a  Ciiilizing  Force.      313 

here  and  there  over  this  great  enemy,  give  new  zeal 
and  energy  to  the  conflict.     The  agitation  will  go  on. 

The  mercenary  spirit  of  this  money-getting  age, 
that  recognizes  nothing  but  riches  as  the  one  object 
worthy  of  attainment,  resents  the  agitation,  and  treats 
it  as  an  impertinent  interference  with  its  plans.  The 
partisan  politics  of  the  country  is  also  arrayed  against 
this  great  moral  movement,  as  a  disturber  of  the 
scheme  to  utilize  the  evil  for  the  accomplishment  of 
political  ends.  But  over  all  these  great  obstacles  the 
waves  of  agitation  rise  higher  and  higher.  What  is 
troubling  the  waves  ?  Why  are  not  these  powerful  op- 
ponents able  to  produce  a  calm,  and  allow  this  busi- 
ness to  go  on  undisturbed?  It  might  be  done  if  the 
doors  of  every  church  were  closed,  every  Bible 
burned,  and  the  sweet  rest  and  contentment  of  the 
Sabbath-day  turned  into  a  day  of  amusement  and 
dissipation. 

Here  again  is  the  Christ  of  the  ages  lifting  man 
up  to  a  higher  conception  of  his  duty  and  his  des- 
tiny, and  here,  too,  is  he  fulfilling  the  prophecy  he 
made  of  himself,  that  he  came  not  to  bring  peace  but 
strife.  First  pure,  and  then  peaceable,  is  the  language 
of  St.  James. 

The  fearful  conflicts  between  capital  and  labor, 
causing  the  nations  to  turn  pale  with  fear  lest  every- 
thing may  be  involved  in  a  common  ruin,  indicate  that 
the  mercenary  spirit  of  the  times  is  a  most  formidable 
obstacle  to  the  elevation  of  the  race.  The  temporary 
expedients  adopted  from  time  to  time  do  not  reach 
far  enough  to  give  assurance  that  the  danger  is  less- 
ened.    It  is  but  postponing  the   destruction  that  may 


314      Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

come  like  a  cyclone  aiul  sweep  everything  before  it. 
The  capitalist  must  have  a  deeper  humanity  and  more 
active  charity,  so  that  he  will  love  man  more  than 
money.  The  laboring  man  must  have  a  clearer  con- 
ception of  the  great  principles  of  justice  and  right. 
Both  must  let  the  Golden  Rule  of  the  Savior,  "  What- 
soever ye  M'ould  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them,"  have  the  supreme  control  of  their 
conduct  in  dealing  with  their  fellow-men.  These 
words  of  the  Master  put  into  practical  operation  will 
still  the  tumult,  and  calm  the  angry  waves  of  con- 
tention, as  surely  as  they  did  when,  in  the  storm,  the 
affrighted  disciples  came  to  him  in  their  fear  and 
said,  "  Master,  Master,  we  perish,"  and  he  rose  and 
rebuked  the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  said,  "  Peace, 
be  still,"  and  there  was  a  great  calm. 

What  other  refuge  that  gives  any  assurance  of 
safety  in  the  future?  The  disorganizing  and  disinte- 
grating theories  of  the  Communist,  the  red  banner  of 
the  Socialist,  do  not  cure  but  surely  aggravate  the  dis- 
order. The  rule-or-ruin  policy  of  the  many  organiza- 
tions, which  claim  to  have  the  interests  of  the  laboring 
class  at  heart,  defeat  the  very  end  they  desire  to  ac- 
complish, and  often  compel  the  State  to  protect  prop- 
erty rights  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  shed  the 
blood  of  her  own  people  to  maintain  the  majesty  and 
supremacy  of  her  own  laws.  That  simply  postpones 
the  evil  for  the  time.  The  innocent  may  suffer  with 
the  guilty,  and  the  innocent  blood  shed  may  be  used 
by  the  craft  of  the  designer  to  fan  anew  the  flames 
of  discontent,  and  a  more  determined  resistance  to 
law  and  order  may  be  organized  which  calls  for  more 


Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force.      315 

bayonets  and  blood.  That  the  ship  of  State  wonld 
have  been  wreeked  long  ago,  I  have  no  doubt,  had  we 
not  had  the  Master  on  board. 

If  this  mercenary-spirit  age  succeeds,  as  it  is  at- 
tempting to  do,  in  casting  Him  overboard,  dethron- 
ing God  and  deifying  Mammon,  then  all  is  lost. 
The  virtue  and  intelligence  of  men  are  the  founda-' 
tion  principles  of  good  government — especially  in  a 
republican  form  of"  government,  where  every  man, 
with  his  ballot  in  his  hand,  impresses  himself  on  the 
statute-book,  and  places  men  of  his  kind  at  the  helm 
to  guide  the  State  and  execute  her  will. 

President  Washington,  in  his  "Farewell  Ad- 
dress," said:  "Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  that 
lead  to  political  prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are 
indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man 
claim  the  tribute  of  ])atriotism  who  labors  to  subvert 
the  great  pillars  of  human  hajjpiness — those  firmest 
props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens."  If  we 
would  have  capital  and  labor  cease  their  warfare,  and 
extend  the  hand  of  friendship  each  to  the  other;  if 
we  would  correct  the  false  notion  that  it  is  disgrace- 
ful to  be  poor  and  a  crime  to  be  rich, — then  we  must 
instill  in  the  minds  of  all  men  the  pure  ethics  of  the 
New  Testament. 

This  remedy  goes  to  the  very  seat  of  the  disorder, 
and  a  permanent  cure  will  be  the  certain  result.  In 
addition  to  the  higher  conception  of  justice  and  right, 
it  infuses  a  kindlier  and  more  unselfish  and  self-sacri- 
ficing spirit  among  men. 

When  great  calamities  came  in  ancient  times — 
when  famine  or  pestilence,  with  a  fearful  scourge;  or 


316     Christianity  as  a  Cwilizing  Force. 

when  destruction  appeared  in  fire  or  flood  or  vol- 
canic eruptions  to  sweep  away  the  homes  and  prop- 
erty of  the  race, — the  efforts  of  the  more  fortunate 
were  to  placate  the  anger  of  the  gods,  and  to  offer 
sacrifices  to  appease  the  wrath  of  imaginary  divini- 
ties.    The  unfortunate  were  left  to  perish. 

In  any  Christian  land,  where  any  city  or  town  is 
desolated  by  fire  or  flood,  and  hundreds  of  families 
are  made  homeless  by  the  devouring  elements,  as 
soon  as  the  news  of  the  disaster  is  carried  over  the 
land  with  the  speed  of  lightning,  it  is  made  the  busi- 
ness of  the  whole  people,  at  once,  to  extend  the  hand 
of  hell)  and  sympathy.  The  swiftest  agencies  that 
can  be  commanded  are  put  in  requisition  to  carry 
the  benefactions  of  sympathetic  humanity  to  the  suf- 
fering. 

Or,  if  the  dread  pestilence  is  found  doing  its 
deadly  work  upon  any  portion  of  the  people,  and  the 
cry  for  help  is  made,  how  our  best  physicians  and 
most  skillful  nurses,  with  a  heroism  that  is  godlike, 
laden  with  the  means  of  relief,  hasten  to  the  infected 
district,  and  battle  with  contagion  and  death  to  save 
humanity !  And  if  the  calamity  has  overtaken  great 
numbers,  as  has  been  the  case  in  our  country  within 
the  last  few  years,  other  nations,  peoples,  and  cities 
show  by  their  sympathy  and  gifts  that  the  mighty 
oceans  which  surround  us  are  too  narrow  to  sep- 
arate us  from  humanity  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world. 

These  grand  demonstrations  of  benevolence  have 
done  more  to  magnify  our  civilization  and  exemplify 
the  progressive  characteristics  of  this  age  than  all  our 


Christianity  as  a  Ciitlizixg  Force.     317 

wonderful  inventious  or  the  rapid  accumulation  of 
luxury  and  wealth. 

If  the  attempt  be  made  to  take  the  crown  of 
glory  from  the  Christian  religion,  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that,  with  all  the  culture  and  the  abundant 
wealth  that  was  in  the  world,  they  had  no  asylums 
for  the  blind,  no  houses  of  refuge  for  the  insane,  be- 
fore He  came  into  the  world ;  that  these,  and  a  great 
many  other  kindred  benevolences,  have  risen  and 
grown  to  great  proportions  as  the  legitimate  result 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Savior,  and  his  attention  and 
love  for  the  unfortunate  while  among  men. 

Xot  only  is  this  sweet  spirit  of  charity  one  to  an- 
other developing  a  kindred  spirit  among  men,  but  it 
is  reaching  out  to  the  settlement  of  differences  among 
Christian  nations.  The  time  is  not  distant  when  all 
nations  under  the  influence  of  Christianity  will  not 
appeal  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword;  but,  free 
from  passion  and  not  blinded  with  national  pride, 
will  peaceably  settle  all  disputes  by  a  fair  and  just 
arbitration,  and  men  will  learn  war  no  more.  Be- 
fore His  coming,  prisoners  of  war  were  either  con- 
demned to  death  or  perpetual  slavery  by  the  most 
powerful  and  cultivated  Nations.  In  the  intervals  of 
peace,  they  were  whetting  their  swords  for  another 
conflict. 

The  signs  of  the  times  indicate  a  fulfillment  of 
the  announcement  made  at  His  birth  by  the  heavenly 
host,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace  and  good-will  to  men."  It  is  impossible  to 
contemplate  the  life  and  sayings  of  our  Savior  with- 
out falling  in  love  with  all  that  is  pure  and  good. 


318      Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

A  Hindoo  once  said  to  one  of  our  missionaries : 
"Reviling  our  gods,  criticising  our  Shasters,  and  ridi- 
culing our  ritual  will  accomplish  nothing;  but  the 
story  you  tell  of  Him  who  loved,  and  pitied,  and 
came  and  sought,  and  suffered,  and  rose  again, — that 
story,  sir,  will  overthrow  our  temples,  destroy  our 
ritual,  abolish  our  Shasters,  and  extinguish  our  gods." 
The  heathen  was  correct ;  and  if  such  be  the  eifect 
of  the  story  of  Jesus  among  the  heathen,  it  will  not 
be  the  less   wonderful    in  this   enlightened    Nation. 

Our  temples  of  selfishness  and  covctousness  will 
fall  before  the  assaults  of  Christ's  pure  teaching  and 
example.  Bloody  and  cruel  war  will  flee  before  the 
white  banner  of  })eace ;  and  slander,  "  the  foulest  whelp 
of  sin,"  will  hide  away  from  the  presence  of  uni- 
versal charity.  Such  has  been  the  fruit  of  a  pure 
Christianity  ever  since  its  introduction  in  the   world. 

One  has  said  :  "  Unlike  the  Jewish  religion,  it  was 
bound  by  no  local  ties,  and  was  equally  adaj^ted  for 
every  nation  and  every  class.  Unlike  Stoicism,  it 
appealed  in  tlie  strongest  manner  to  the  affections,  and 
offered  all  the  charms  of  a  sympathetic  worship.  Un- 
like the  Egyptian  religions,  it  united  with  its  distinct- 
ive teaching  a  pure  and  noble  system  of  ethics,  and 
proved  itself  capable  of  realizing  it  in  action.  It 
proclaimed,  amid  a  vast  movement  of  social  and 
national  amalgamation,  the  universal  brotherhood  of 
mankind.  Amid  the  softening  influence  of  philoso- 
phy and  civilization,  it  taught  the  supreme  sanctity  of 
love.  To  the  philosopher  it  was  at  once  the  echo  of 
the  highest  ethics  of  the  later  Stoics,  and  the  expan- 
sion of  the  best  teachings  of  the  school  of  Plato." 


CHRISTIA.\n  V  AS  A    CllILIZING  FORCE.        319 

In  these  latter  clays,  especially  among  our  young 
men,  it  is  claimed  as  a  sign  of  mental  independence 
and  advanced  thought  to  reject  Christianity  and 
ado])t  the  notions  of  modern  infidelity.  But  it  is  a 
baseless  fallacy.  The  chain  of  errors  and  superstitions 
that  bound  the  human  mind  have  been  removed  by 
the  enlightening  and  liberating  force  of  Christianity, 
and  no  mind  is  so  free  as  the  one  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

Dr.  Channing  says:  "I  call  that  mind  free  which 
is  not  passively  formed  by  outward  circumstances, 
which  is  not  swept  away  by  the  torrent  of  events, 
which  is  not  the  creature  of  accidental  impulse,  but 
which  bends  events  to  its  own  improvement,  and 
acts  from  an  inward  spring,  from  immutable  prin- 
ciples, which  it  has  deliberately  espoused. 

"  I  call  that  mind  free  which  resists  the  bondage 
of  habit,  which  does  not  mechanically  repeat  itself 
and  copy  the  past,  which  does  not  enslave  itself  to 
precise  rules,  but  forgets  what  is  behind,  listens  to 
new  and  higher  monitions  of  conscience,  and  re- 
joices to  pour  itself  forth  in  fresh  and  higher  exer- 
tions. I  call  that  mind  free  which  is  jealous  of  its 
own  freedom,  which  guards  itself  from  being  merged 
in  others,  which  guards  its  empire  over  itself  as  no- 
bler than  the  empire  of  the  world.  In  fine,  I  call 
that  mind  free  which,  conscious  of  its  affinity  with 
God,  and  confiding  in  his  promises  by  Jesus  Christ, 
devotes  itself  faithfully  to  the  unfolding  of  all  its 
powers,  which  passes  the  bounds  of  time  and  death, 
which  hopes  to  advance  forever,  and  which  finds  in- 
exhaustible power  in  the  prospect  of  immortality." 


320      Christianity  as  a  Civilizing  Force. 

The  mental  bondage  of  the  idolater  ^Yho  attrib- 
uted every  storm,  every  disease,  every  eclipse  of  the 
sun  or  moon,  to  an  incensed  God;  who  thought  he 
was  surrounded  with  witches,  hobgoblins,  and  familiar 
spirits;  who  was  in  constant  fear  lest  the  malice  of  an 
enemy  should  fasten  on  him  the  dreadful  charge  of 
witchcraft,  and  have  him  put  to  death  for  holding 
communication  with  demons, — is  too  horrible  to  con- 
template. 

The  power  of  the  gospel  has  broken  link  after 
link  of  these  chains  of  ignorancie  and  superstition, 
and  the  most  enlightened  of  the  human  race  are 
marching  out  of  the  prison  that  has  so  long  confined 
them. 

It  is  in  no  sense  the  evidence  of  advanced  thought 
to  extinguish  the  flaming  torch  that  has  lighted  the 
way,  and  is  leading  the  human  race  out  of  the  dark 
vale  of  barbarism  up  to  that  higher  plane  of  a  better 
and  clearer  conception  of  their  relations  to  their  fel- 
low-men and  their  Creator. 

With  the  overwhelming  and  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  motive  power  of  all  human  advancement  is 
in  what  Christ  said  and  did  while  in  the  world,  the 
man  that  would  rob  the  world  of  that  light  is  the 
enemy  of  his  own  soul,  and  the  open  foe  to  the  best 
interests  of  his  fellow-men. 


THE  DEMANDS  AND  DANGERS  OF 
THE  TIMES. 

WHAT  has  brought  tliis  great  assembly  here  to- 
day? It  may  be  answered,  This  is  Old  Set- 
tlers' Day.  But  it  can  not  be  tliat  curiosity  to  see 
those  we  have  seen  most  and  longest  has  attracted  so 
many  from  their  homes.  That  we  honor  and  love  the 
heroic  old  settlers,  we  can  not  doubt ;  but  thoy  are  no 
curiosity.  Neither  are  we  here  as  partisans  or  secta- 
rians; for  before  me  are  all  shades  of  political  opin- 
ions and  religious  beliefs.  Have  we  not  been  drawn 
hither  by  that  invisible  cord  of  human  sympathy 
that  binds  us  all  together?  Did  we  not  hunger  for 
this  social  feast,  and  long  to  look  into  each  other's 
faces,  that  we  might  give  comfort  and  joy  each  to  the 
other?  The  smaller  meetings  of  our  political  party 
or  the  household  of  our  Church  faith  does  not  meet 
entirely  the  larger  want  of  the  human  soul.  The  ir- 
repressible desire  comes  up  to  meet  the  whole  flim- 
ily — everybody.  So  human  ingenuity  has  invented 
county  fairs,  old  settlers'  meetings,  and  other  innocent 
deceptions  and  devices,  that  this  want  may  be  met; 
that  everybody  may  come,  and  meet  high  up  on  a 
plane  above  the  world's  strifes  and  contentions;  that 
we,  in    the  broadest   and   most  comprehensive  sense, 


Address  delivered  at  the  Annual  Reunion  of  the  Pioneer 
Association,  Hunt's  Grove,  Ohio,  Saturday  August  4,  1888. 

21  321 


322    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

may  have  fbll()\v.sbip  and  communion  with  our  com- 
mon humanity.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  do.  We  go 
hence  broader  and  better  every  way.  We  become 
less  of  the  partisan  and  more  of  the  patriot ;  we  carry 
down  to  our  daily  lives  more  toleration  and  less 
bigotry.  We  unload,  on  all  such  days  as  this,  some  of 
our  selfishnesss,  and  take  on  more  charity.  We  lose 
many  a  narrow  prejudice,  and  find  a  broader  frater- 
nity. It  is  for  this  we  are  here.  AVe  rally  round  the 
old  settlers,  and  utilize  them  for  this  high  purpose. 
Do  not  understand  me  as  depreciating  the  old  settlers. 
In  many  points  they  represent  this  higher  life.  They 
were  unselfish,  self-sacrificing  ;  and,  whatever  else  may 
be  said  of  them,  they  did  not  fail  to  cultivate  their 
social  natures.  In  that  regard  they  exceeded  their 
children.  We  may  claim  to  have  more  education  and 
culture  than  they  ;  but  they  were  more  generous  and 
self-sacrificing.  Bold  and  brave  pioneers  fifty  years 
ago,  they  contended  with  difficulties  of  which  we  now 
know  but  little,  except  we  see  that  it  developed  grand, 
heroic  qualities. 

When  we  leave  behind  our  buying  and  selling, 
and  thus  come  together  to  inhale  this  purer  atmos- 
phere, we  are  simply  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
those  of  the  olden  time,  of  which  the  old  settler  is 
the  representative.  I  do  not  claim  to  be  able  to  ex- 
pound the  philosophy  of  the  proposition ;  yet  it  is 
true  that  all  reforms  have  their  origin  in  man's  social 
life.  Just  in  proportion  as  this  is  developed  do  we 
bring  the  race  up  to  the  full  stature  of  manhood  and 
womanhood.  You  may  develop  the  intellectual  and 
cultivate  the  spiritual  nature  of  man  ;  but  he  will  be 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    323 

a  weakling  and  a  dwarf,  failing  to  fulfill  his  mission 
in  life,  if  his  social  life  is  neglected.  His  intellect 
will  be  clouded,  and  his  spirit  heavy,  and  his  counte- 
nance gloomy,  unless  the  great  social  want  of  his 
life  is  met.  Solomon  says :  "  Iron  sharpeneth  iron  : 
so  a  man  sharpeneth  the  countenance  of  his  friend." 
When  the  artificial  barriers  that  wealth  and  birth 
have  erected  are  broken  down,  and  the  rings  and 
cliques  that  fashion  and  folly  may  create  are  dissolved, 
and  the  whole  mass  meet  on  perfect  equality  as  we 
do  to-day,  a  reformatory  and  elevating  influence  seems 
to  result  from  the  contact,  and  we  all  go  hence  better 
equipped  for  the  contest  in  life.  If  you  want  to  know 
the  degree  of  civilization  of  any  nation.  State,  or 
community,  get  the  exact  gauge  of  the  social  life, 
and  you  will  reach  a  correct  conclusion  without  diffi- 
culty. The  highest  type  of  man  is  the  one  who  is 
the  most  ardent  lover  of  his  race. 

Philanthropy  is  the  basis  of  our  social  life,  and  hence 
is  the  active  agency  in  sharpening  the  intellect,  warm- 
ing the  heart,  and  quickening  the  energy  to  fight  the  ills 
that  destroy  human  happiness.  The  best  quality  of  cit- 
izens and  the  bravest  soldiers  are  the  legitimate  result 
of  this  high  social  culture,  producing  a  people  that  will 
maintain  the  right  in  times  of  peace  and  are  invinciblO 
in  war.  When  the  people  are  all  anxious  to  come  to-- 
gether,  not  to  witness  the  contest  in  the  bloody  arena, 
as  did  the  ancient  Romans,  but  to  taste  the  sweets 
of  social  life,  and  talk  of  the  days  that  have  gone 
and  com])are  them  with  the  present,  it  is  a  good 
omen.  It  is  a  prophecy  of  a  better  future.  Away 
back  in  the  centuries,  religious  fimaticism  led  men  to 


.'!24    Demands  and  Dangers  or  the  7  imes. 

think  tlie  only  safety  for  their  souls  M'as  to  flee  from 
society,  and  live  the  life  of  a  hermit  in  caves  and 
cells  in  the  desert.  But  it  was  an  awful  failure. 
They  became  so  inhuman  that  they  refused  to  see  the 
faces  of  their  own  mothers,  spurned  from  their 
presence  their  own  children,  and  died  in  their  filthy 
dungeons  like  beasts.  They  failed  to  comprehend  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity.  They  never  began  to 
inhale  its  sweet  and  refreshing  spirit.  A  great 
writer  has  truly  said  that  true  Christianity  is  to  de- 
stroy or  weaken  the  barriers  which  separate  class 
from  class,  to  make  a  consciousness  of  essential 
equality  dominate  over  all  accidental  differences. 
This  can  only  be  done  by  social  contact.  Men  must 
come  around  a  common  altar,  and  lay  their  hearts 
often  together  that  they  may  be  warmer,  and,  with 
united  hands,  vow  each  to  the  other  that  no  man 
liveth  to  himself  and  no    man   dieth  to  himself. 

No  recluse  can  be  a  reformer.  The  reformer 
must  know  his  fellow-men ;  and  reforms  must  be 
planted  in  the  open  field  of  every-day  life,  and 
have  the  constant  sunlight  of  human  sympathy. 
They  must  take  root  in  our  social  life,  and  as  they 
grow  and  ripen,  they  will  stand  the  storms  of  dis- 
cussion and  the  frosts  of  persecution.  As  the  heat 
refines  the  silver,  and  eliminates  dross  from  the 
gold,  so  do  the  warm  debates  and  heated  discussions 
of  all  differences  among  men  result  in  the  survival 
of  the  best  thought. 

These  old  settlers  remind  us  forcibly  that  more 
generations  than  one  have  come,  fulfilled  the  work  as- 
signed   them,   and    have   gone.     These   few    that   are 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    325 

left  are  the  relics  of  former  times.  lu  their  life- 
time there  have  been  many  great  changes,  and  in 
many  directions  great  progress.  We  haye  advantages 
and  improvements  that  they  in  their  younger  days 
never  dreamed  of.  And  on  occasions  like  this,  we  are 
inclined  to  brag  and  bluster  over  them,  and  look  back 
with  mingled  pity  and  contempt  on  the  simplicity  of 
their  methods  and  the  smallness  of  their  results. 
While  we  can  point  to  our  increased  locomotion,  to 
our  telegraph,  to  our  telephone,  tf)  our  improved  ma- 
chinery in  every  direction,  to  our  electric  lights  and 
gushing  gas-wells,  and  many  other  evidences  of 
progress,  yet  we  must  not  conclude  that  we  are  so 
much  better  than  they  because  in  their  life-time  all 
this  progress  has  been  made.  The  civilization  that 
civilizes  is  that  which  makes  man  kinder  and  nobler. 
Let  us  take  in  all  the  surroundings  before  we  in- 
dulge in  boasting.  We  must  look  at  the  debtor 
side  of  the  ledger  as  well  as  the  credit  side,  in  order 
to  strike  a  correct  balance  of  the  account.  What 
evil  has  come  with  all  this  good  ?  ''  Watchman, 
what  of  the  night?" 

That  these  labor-saving  machines  and  great  dis- 
cov^eries  and  inventions  have  infused  new  life  and 
energy  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  put  the  human  race 
at  work  with  all  their  might,  can  not  be  doubted. 
Wealth  has  been  placed  in  sight  and  within  the  reach 
of  all.  In  the  struggle  for  riches,  men  have  forgot- 
ten their  obligations  to  society  and  their  duties  to  the 
Government.  They  have  tossed  aside  the  considera- 
tion that  is  due  the  jiublic  welfare,  and  ignored  the 
claims  upon  them  as  citizens,  in  their  hot  anxiety  to 


320    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

compass  their  own  personal  aims.  They  have  left 
the  high  and  difficult  task  of  good  government  to  the 
idlers  and  vicious  classes.  The  politics  of  the  coun- 
try is  largely  in  the  hands  of  those  who  care  but 
little  for  law  and  order.  While  the  industrious  man 
is  accumulating  wealth,  the  tramp  and  the  vagrant 
are  at  the  caucus  or  the  political  convention.  While 
the  good  citizen,  as  he  thinks  himself,  is  making 
money,  the  loafer  is  choosing  men  of  his  own  kind  to 
waste  it  or  steal  it. 

I  have  but  little  patience  with  the  sort  of  political 
sanctification  that,  with  an  assumed  air  of  superior 
virtue,  wraps  the  robe  of  the  Pharisee  about  itself, 
and  declares  that  it  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
dirty  pool  of  politics.  As  the  worst  elements  in  so- 
ciety are  the  most  powerful  and  positive  forces  in 
politics,  men  are  now  nominated  for  office  with  direct 
reference  to  securing  this  vicious  influence.  The 
decent  and  intelligent  of  all  parties  must  come  to  the 
front  and  take  control  of  their  political  parties,  or 
the  precious,  patriotic  blood  of  two  wars  for  the 
preservation  and  perpetuation  of  human  liberty  will 
have  been  spilled  in  vain.  Am  I  overstating  the 
case  when  I  assert  that  the  supreme  questions  for  a 
candidate  for  the  people's  suffrage  are  not  qualifica- 
tion and  character  for  honor  and  integrity,  but  can 
he  get  the  support  of  the  "  b'hoys " — is  he  a  gooti 
mixer  and  a  hustler? 

By  this  state  of  things,  we  scarce  secure  second- 
rate  men  for  President  or  governor,  about  third- 
rate  men  for  Congress,  and  for  our  State  Legisla- 
ture so  poor   a  quality  that   they  can  not  be   rated, 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    327 

excc])t  tlu^y  iniglit  be  properly  ternietl  the  vulgar 
fraction  of"  our  politics.  There  are  indivitliial  excep- 
tiou8.  I  8j)eak  in  general  terms.  You  can  not  se- 
cure a  good  executive  out  of  a  mere  mixer,  nor  will 
a  Congress  of  hustlers  be  of  any  service  to  the 
country  ;  and  a  Legislature  composed  largely  of  men 
who  were  candidates  because  they  would  set  'em  up 
to  the  boys,  will  do  anything  to  deplete  the  public 
treasury.  Yet  men  talk  seriously  of  civil-service 
reform,  of  engrafting  it  on  the  dying  and  rotten 
branches  of  our  political  system.  The  people,  the 
very  source  and  fountain  of  power,  must  be  re- 
formed They  must  be  brought  to  see  tliat  the  best 
legacy  they  can  leave  to  their  children  is  the  rich 
blessing  of  good  government — better  than  gold  or 
silver,  land,  stocks,  and  bonds.  To  that  end  a  halt 
must  be  called  in  the  hot  pursuit  for  wealth,  and 
time  enough  must  be  taken  to  dislodge  the  bum- 
mer, to  retire  the  mere  mixer,  and  discharge  the 
hustler  from  the  responsibility  of  managing  the  af- 
fairs of  State. 

The  better  elements  must  take  control  of  our 
public  affairs.  We  must  have  bone  and  sinew  and 
strong  muscle  in  our  political  virtue.  We  must  put 
clown  lawlessness,  enforce  the  good  laws,  and  repeal 
all  statutes  that  were  made  for  mere  private  or  par- 
tisan interests,  and  are  inimical  to  the  public  good. 
It  were  far  better  for  posterity  that  the  institutions 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  for  which  our  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  fought,  bled,  and  died  ;  to  establish 
and  to  preserve,  which  our  brothers,  with  equal  zeal 
and     patriotism,   went    to    the    field   of   carnage    and 


328    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

death  when  the  recent  attempt  was  made  to  dissolve 
the  Union, — I  say  it  were  far  better  for  our  children 
that  we  give  them  these  inestimable  gifts  unimpaired 
than  leave  them  large  sums  of  money.  To  accomplish 
this,  every  good  citizen  and  patriot  must  turn  his 
attention  to  our  politics.  He  will  have  to  study  to 
comprehend  his  country's  needs,  and  then  have  the 
courage  to  compel  his  party  to  accept  a  policy  that 
will  reach  that  end.  I  do  not  speak  as  a  party 
man.  We  are  here  as  citizens  of  a  common  country, 
with  a  common  interest  in  the  general  welfare,  and 
to  consider  the  things  that  reach  that  object;  and  I 
address  myself  to  you  as  patriots  and  lovers  of  your 
race.  If  we  who  are  animated  with  high  concep- 
tions of  duty  will  come  to  the  front,  we  can  reform 
the  many  abuses  that  have  stealthily  crept  into  the 
management  of  political  parties.  And  right  here  is 
the  place  for  effective  work  for  the  reformer.  Here 
is  a  fine  field  for  the  patriot  and  the  philanthropist. 
Commence  reform  at  the  very  bottom,  and  then 
build  up  sure  and  strong.  Awaken  the  conscience 
of  men  so  that  they  will  make  the  public  interest 
their  interest.  Have  the  great  controlling  masses  as 
jealous  of  the  reputation  of  the  State  as  they  are  of 
their  own  families.  Let  the  great,  honest  public 
heart  be  ambitious  for  the  enactment  of  such  laws  as 
will  best  subserve  the  peace,  happiness,  and  prosper- 
ity of  the  greatest  number,  and  then  see  to  it  that 
they  are  strictly  enforced.  If  the  experiment  of 
free  government  in  the  end  should  prove  to  be  a 
failure,  that  would  not  establish  the  proposition  that 
man    is   not  capable  to   govern   himself,  but  that  he 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    -529 

simply  failed  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  per- 
sonal attention  to  the  public  welfare,  and  neglected  to 
faithfully  administer  the  great  trust  given  him.  We 
inherit  largely  our  political  opinions  as  we  do  our 
physical  form  and  mental  capabilities.  This  keeps 
alive  political  parties.  One  political  party  or  the 
other  has  the  charge,  and  is  responsible  for  the  man- 
agement of  the  State.  Through  these  party  organi- 
zations the  good  is  often  made  to  serve  the  bad,  for 
the  reason  that  the  evil  is  active  while  the  good  is 
passive.  If  the  great  moneyed  monopolies  or  the 
liquor  league  select  the  Legislature,  so  that  the  laws 
are  made  against  the  public  welfare  and  to  subserve 
private  interests,  it  is  but  the  legitimate  result  of  the 
indifference  of  the  best  men  of  the  party  to  their 
public  duties.  Out  of  this  indifference  comes  the 
demagogue,  with  his  foul  breath  and  lying  tongue,  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  discord  and  discontent  among  the 
ignorant,  which  will  yield  the  bitter  fruits  of  lawless- 
ness and  anarchy.  It  is  not  the  presence  of  the 
demagogue  that  need  create  alarm,  but  the  circum-- 
stance  that  makes  his  existence  a  possibility. 

We  have  met  to-day  with  glad  and  grateful 
hearts,  and  I  doubt  not  that  some  of  you  who  hear 
me  will  wonder  why  I  do  not  present  the  brighter  side 
of  our  national  life.  It  would  be  more  agreeable  for 
me  to  do  so,  did  I  not  think  the  time  has  come 
when  the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  the  platform  should 
sound  a  note  of  warning  of  present  dangers  and 
greater  ones  approaching.  What  is  the  cause  of  this 
failure  to  look  carefully  after  the  precious  trust  com- 
mitted to  us?     Why  this  criminal  indifference  to  the 


330    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

national  safety?  Are  we  losing  our  love  for  our 
country  and  our  race?  What  has  deadened  our 
moral  sense  and  extinguished  our  patriotic  fervor? 
In  reply,  I  would  answer  that  we  are  becoming  too 
mercenary.  We  place  too  high  an  estimate  on  riches. 
The  almighty  dollar  has  come-between  us  and  duty. 
Like  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  tiie 
golden  calf  of  Aaron  has  more  charm  than  the  tab- 
lets of  Moses  containing  the  commandments  of  God. 
To  be  industrious  and  provident  is  as  commendable 
as  laziness  and  extravagance  is  detestable.  But  money 
is  to  be  earned  as  a  means  to  secure  a  useful  and 
happy  life,  and  not  as  the  sole  end  and  aim  of  exist- 
ence. The  man  whose  only  purpose  in  life  is  to  see 
how  many  dollars  he  can  gather  together  in  half  a 
century,  has  lived  and  moved  on  the  lowest  and  nar- 
rowest possible  plane.  Love,  charity,  and  benevo- 
lence, and  all  the  tender  sensibilities  of  life  will  flee 
from  such  a  soul,  and  a  hateful  brood — avarice,  cov- 
etousness,  distrust,  and  dishonesty — will  occupy  the 
wrecked  and  ruined  spirit,  and  he  may  die  rich  in 
money  but  poor  in  friends,  and  poorer  still  in  the  re- 
grets of  his  fellow-men. 

In  such  a  land  of  plenty,  our  educational  institu- 
tions should  be  as  perfect  as  it  is  possible  for  man  to 
make  them,  and  our  scholars  should  be  the  most  tin- 
ished  and  thorough  of  any  Nation  in  the  world.  There 
being  no  censorship  of  the  press,  and  being,  as  we 
are  to  a  great  degree,  free  from  the  superstitions  and 
dogmas  of  the  older  nations,  we  ought,  as  a  Nation, 
to  be  able  to  present  to  the  world  a  literature  that 
would  make  a  new  and  brighter  era  in  the  history  of 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.     33  i 

letters — a  literature  whose  excellence  would  com- 
mand the  attention  and  admiration  of  the  world — 
the  dogmas  of  the  darker  ages  being  abandoned, 
and  American  thoughts  and  ideas  substituted.  AVe 
ought  to  have  such  an  ap])reciation  of  the  dignity  of 
our  citizenship  as  to  seek  the  highest  attainment  of 
all  the  graces  and  culture  that  so  adorn  and  beautify 
human  character.  No  Nation  should  excel  us  in  our 
social  qualities  or  exceed  us  in  the  charms  of  polite 
intercourse.  Oin-  national  advantages  demand  of  us 
that  we  should  stand  in  the  very  front  rank  in  sci- 
ence, in  art,  in  religion — in  all  that  it  is  possible  for 
humanity  to  attain  in  this  life.  The  health  and  vigor 
of  our  national  life  ought  not  to  be  poisoned  and 
weakened  by  corruption  in  high  places,  and  the  honor 
and  fair  fame  of  the  American  character  should  be 
free  from  the  stain  of  official  dishonesty.  To  be 
worthy  the  position  that  our  national  advantages  and 
liberal  form  of  government  have  given  us  among  the 
family  of  nations,  our  national  reputation  as  a  Chris- 
tian people  should  be  above  reproach. 

We  are  compelled  to  admit  the  fact  that  we  have 
not  yet  attained  to  that  high  position.  We  are  too 
often  made  to  blush  with  shame  at  the  disgusting  dis- 
closures of  breaches  of  faith  and  trust  by  those  who 
should  be  models  of  integrity  and  purity.  And  so 
frequent  are  these  exposures  of  knavery,  in  financial 
circles  as  well  as  in  official  positions,  that  it  is  cre- 
ating a  feeling  of  disgust  and  alarm,  and  most  search- 
ing and  vigorous  investigation  is  the  order  of  the 
times  to  detect  and  punish  the  guilty.  The  popular 
demand    for    these   prosecutions    and    the    vigor   dis- 


.^32    Dej/ands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.. 

phiycd  ill  ferreting  out  these  criminals,  is  a  healthy 
indication,  and  worthy  of  all  commendation.  But  the 
arrest,  trial,  and  conviction  of  a  defaulting  cashier  of 
a  bank  here  and  there,  and  the  dismissal  from  office 
of  an  unfaithful  public  servant,  does  not  seem  to 
remedy  the  evil  or  arrest  the  tide  of  dishonesty  and 
corruption  that  is  sweeping  over  the  land.  On  the 
contrary,  these  crimes  seem  more  frequent,  and  our 
Nation  is  rapidly  losing  its  high  character  for  integ- 
rity, and  the  disgraceful  appellation  of  swindler  and 
sharper  are  attaching  odium  to  the  reputation  of 
the  American  citizen  because  of  the  frequent  de- 
falcation of  public  officers  and  the  dishonesty  of 
those  who  have  been  made  the  custodians  of  the 
funds  of  others.  In  order  to  discover  the  remedy 
for  this  disorder,  we  must  find  the  cause  that  pro- 
duces it.  The  skillful  and  intelligent  physician  Avill 
not  undertake  to  cure  a  patient  afflicted  with  ulcers 
by  healing  up  a  sore  here  and  there  on  the  surface  of 
the  body,  but  will  seek  to  cleanse  the  blood  of  his 
patient  of  the  poison  that  produces  the  eruption.  If 
we  would  cure  the  Nation's  evil,  we  must  not  expect 
to  accomplish  it  with  mere  applications  to  its  surface 
indications,  but  we  must  go  to  the  very  bottom  and 
ajiply  the  remedy  to  the  very  source  from  whence  it 
comes.     Whence,  then,  comes  this  evil  ? 

Manifestly  the  rich  and  abundant  blessings  that 
God  has  so  bountifully  bestowed  on  the  American 
people  are  being  perverted  by  them,  and  they  yet 
may  make  them  curses  instead  of  benefactions. 
Among  the  many  blessings  he  has  given  us  are  the 
inexha^istible  resources  of  the  country  and  the  indomi- 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    ;);>3 

table  energy  of  her  people.  We  are  misusing  the 
one,  and  consequently  misdirecting  the  other.  The 
mere  accumulation  of  wealth  has  become  too  much 
the  end  and  aim  of  the  American  citizen,  and  to  this 
base  use  is  he  prostituting  his  soul,  mind,  aud 
strength.  The  inordinate  desire  for  riches  is  beget- 
ting a  mercenary  spirit  that  is  a  reproach  to  our  re- 
ligion and  a  blot  on  our  civilization.  It  is  prostrating 
the  self-respect  of  tlie  American  citizen,  weakening 
his  moral  power,  aud,  as  a  consequence,  is  the  source 
from  whence  conies  this  flood-tide  of  fraud  and  dis- 
honesty. Public  sentiment  is  becoming  so  poisoned 
by  this  mercenary  spirit  that  wealth,  no  matter  how 
acquired,  brings  Avith  it  position  and  influence  that 
can  be  secured  in  no  other  way.  Wealth  seems  to 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  Whether  we  intend  it  or 
not,  we  are  teaching  our  children  by  our  example  that 
the  chief  end  of  mau  is  to  become  rich.  While  we  may 
tell  them  with  our  lips  that  God  is  the  true,  only 
proper  object  of  worship,  yet  they  see  but  too  plainly 
that  Mammon  has  possession  of  our  hearts.  They 
see  all  around  them  practices,  that  are  essentially  dis- 
honest, commended  aud  upheld  because  they  pay  well. 
They  see  how  the  wealthy  villain,  who  managed  the 
corrupt  ring  that  robbed  the  public  treasury,  is 
feted  and  toasted,  and  perchance  elected  or  appointed 
to  some  high  position  of  trust  and  influence  by  men 
who  profess  to  be  patriots  and  Christians.  This 
has  occurred  so  often  that  they  have  concluded  that 
success  in  corruption  and  rascality  makes  it  honor- 
able. They  have  noted  that  greed  and  the  desire  for 
gain  override  duty  and  trample  under  foot  the  sacred 


334    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

tie  of  social  obligation,  so  that  in  the  scale  of  pul)li( 
.estimation,  the  acquisition  of  money  outweighs  all  the 
other  aims  and  purposes  of  human  existence.  They 
have  seen  "  how  wealth  has  become  a  god,  and  how  on 
its  altar  are  sacrificed  ease,  peace,  truth,  faith,  integ- 
rity, good  conscience,  friends,  love,  charity,  and  all 
the  sweet  and  tender  sensibilities  of  life." 

In  this  money-getting  atmosphere  they  are  reared 
and  trained;  and  when  childhood's  day  is  done,  with 
all  the  ardor  of  young  life  they  enter  the  lists  for 
the  prize.  Their  education  has  taught  them  that 
conscience  is  a  weight  that  may  easily  beset  them  in 
the  race,  and  that  it  must  be  laid  aside — candor  must 
be  driven  out,  and  deceit  must  take  its  place;  that 
plain,  single-purposed  honor  must  give  place  to 
double-faced  and  cunning  hypocrisy;  that  religion 
may  be  loudly  professed,  but  never  practiced,  except 
where  it  will  pay ;  that  Christ,  with  his  purifying 
power,  must  be  expelled  from  the  soul,  and  that  Satan 
must  reign  supreme.  This  grasping  spirit  is  thus 
imparted  to  the  young,  and  becomes  part  of  their 
very  nature,  and  they  enter  on  their  career  in  life 
with  it  as  the  controlling  motive  power  i>f  all  their 
actions. 

The  evil  effects  of  this  training  may  be  seen  in 
commercial  circles  as  well  as  in  professional  life;  in 
the  mechanic  and  merchant  as  well  as  in  the  poli- 
tician ;  in  the  lowest  and  humblest  vocations.  It  is 
everywhere  and  all-pervading.  We  come  in  contact 
with  and  feel  its  malign  power  constantly.  This 
strange  and  undue  estimate  we  place  on  the  value  of 
money  is  the  fountain  and  origin  of  the  corruption  of 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    335 

the  times.  It  is  poisoning  the  life-blood  of  the 
Nation,  and  marring  the  beauty  of  our  free  institu- 
tions with  the  ugly  ulcers  of  official  dishonesty.  It 
is  creating  a  public  sentiment  in  which  dishonesty  is 
not  disgraceful.  It  is  the  great  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  social,  political,  and  moral  reformation.  It  hardens 
the  heart  of  man,  effaces  the  divine  image  thereon, 
and  sends  him  forth  among  his  fellow-men  a  selfish 
demon.  It  places  the  material  above  the  spiritual 
and  eternal.  It  dethrones  God,  and  deifies  Mammon. 
It  closes  man's  eyes  to  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the 
universe  of  God,  and,  with  his  great  endowments, 
imprisons  him  in  the  dark  and  narrow  cell  of  his  own 
selfish  soul.  It  turns  his  thoughts  from  the  contem- 
plation of  what  is  right  and  duty,  and  from  the  high 
consideration  of  what  is  truth,  to  the  groveling  in- 
quiry of  what  will  pay. 

So  strong  and  powerful  is  this  spirit  that  its  in- 
fluence has  become  imperial.  If  the  politician,  rising 
above  the  bribes  and  corruptions  of  the  times,  de- 
nounces and  exposes  the  rascally  combinations  that 
have  become  so  common,  he  is  threatened  that  he  will 
be  voted  down  unless  he  keeps  silent.  If  the  press 
dare  expose  the  swindles  that  are  concocted  to  rob 
the  unsuspecting,  the  withdrawal  of  patronage  is  the 
weapon  used  to  bring  it  to  time.  If  the  minister  of 
the  gospel  is  too  free  in  denouncing  covetousness, 
and  holding  up  too  specially  its  enormities,  and  turn- 
ing attention  to  the  perpetration  of  its  wrongs,  his 
support  is  withheld  by  those  who  love  riches  more 
than  righteousness.  This  state  of  things  is  the  most 
formidable  obstacle  in  the   way  of  progi'ess   and  re- 


336    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

form,  and  is  the  chief  liiudering  cause  in  the  way  of 
our  advancing  civilization. 

Whatever  is  a  source  of  wealth,  no  matter  how 
acquired — even  if  the  business  be  a  curse  to  the  race, 
and  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  humanity — must 
not  be  held  up  with  all  of  its  enormities  to  the  pub- 
lic gaze.  The  money  power  forbids  it,  and  the  sub- 
serviency of  the  times  yields  a  cowardly  submission. 
We  have  an  illustration  of  the  effect  produced  on  a 
large  scale  in  our  country  during  the  present  century. 
When  slave-labor  was  unprofitable,  there  was  uni- 
versal assent  to  and  confession  of  the  sin  and  wrong 
of  slavery,  even  from  the  slaveholders  themselves. 
But  when  the  cotton-gin  was  invented,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, wealth  began  to  flow  into  the  coffers  of  the 
master  from  the  labors  of  the  involuntary  servant, 
the  sin  was  first  excused,  then  denied,  and  at  last  a 
subservient  clergy  was  compelled  to  preach  that  the 
abomination  was  patriarchal  and  divine. 

But  equally  culpable  with  the  clergy  were  the 
politicians  of  those  times,  who  came  with  their  com- 
promises and  Fugitive-slave  Law  as  their  offering  at 
the  altar  of  Mammon;  and  the  highest  tribunal,  not 
to  be  outdone  in  devotion  to  the  money  power,  pro- 
claimed from  their  exalted  position,  and  under  the 
solemnity  of  their  official  oath,  that,  in  this  land  of 
freedom,  and  under  a  Constitution  made  to  perpet- 
uate the  blessings  of  liberty  for  all  coming  time  to 
those  who  choose  to  live  under  it,  one  class  of  men 
had  no  rights  that  another,  of  lighter  color,  were 
bound  to  respect.  It  not  only  compelled  the  pulpit 
and  the  press   and    the  judiciary  to  submit  to  its  de- 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    337 

mands,  but  when  the  people,  in  the  exercise  of  their 
Constitutional  right,  peacefully,  at  the  ballot-box,  ex- 
pressed their  condemnation  of  the  system,  it  trampled 
the  flag  of  our  country  under  foot,  declared  the 
Union  of  the  States  dissolved,  and  appealed  to  the 
sword  to  maintain  its  position. 

Had  slave-labor  not  been  a  source  of  great  wealth 
to  those  interested  in  it,  these  disgraceful  facts  would 
have  no  place  in  our  history,  nor  would  precious 
patriotic  blood  have  been  required  to  wash  out  the  dark 
stain  of  human  bondage.  The  blood  poured  out  in 
the  great  conflict,  and  the  immense  treasure  expended, 
evince  the  power  and  danger  of  this  mercenary  spirit 
which  brought  the  Nation  to  the  very  verge  of  ruin. 
The  same  spirit  is  again  sowing  the  seeds  of  dissen- 
sion", that  may  grow  and  bring  again  the  harvest  of 
blood  and  anarchy.  It  is  arraying  capital  against 
labor,  and  labor  against  capital.  Capital  is  oppress- 
ing labor;  and  labor,  by  combinations  and  strikes,  is 
seeking  to  impair  the  value  of  capital.  Mutually  de- 
pendent on  each  other — the  one  being  helpless  with- 
out the  other — yet  this  mercenary  spirit  has  engaged 
them  in  the  senseless  attempt  to  weaken  and  destroy 
each  other. 

This  state  of  things  enables  the  restless  spirits  of 
the  Old  World  who  have  stirred  up  revolution  and 
anarchy  in  other  nations,  and  many  of  whom  have 
fled  to  our  shores  as  fugitives  from  justice,  to  organ- 
ize secret  associations,  the  purposes  of  which  are  to 
overthrow  law  and  order,  and  to  put  person  and 
property  at  the  mercy  and  under  the  control  of  the 
mob.     As  a  consequence,  it   is   becoming  more  and 


338    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

more  frequent  iu  our  cities  to  witness  processions 
with  banners  upon  which  are  inscribed  sentiments 
that  threaten  to  trample  all  law  and  good  govern- 
ment in  the  dust,  and  are  intended  as  a  menace  to 
coerce  a  compliance  with  their  demands  to  avoid  the 
havoc  of  riot  and  anarchy. 

These  clubs  and  secret  associations  have  had  suf- 
ficient strength  to  overthrow  monarchies  and  king- 
doms, where  no  right  of  suffrage  gave  them  a  voice 
in  the  government.  How  much  more  is  their  power 
for  evil  in  this  land  of  ours,  where,  with  the  ballot 
in  their  hands,  they  seduce  the  statesman  to  become 
the  demagogue,  and  through  him  succeed  in  intro- 
ducing their  lawless  and  turbulent  spirit  in  the  very 
halls  of  legislation !  The  extortion  and  oppression  of 
the  great  moneyed  monopolies  give  life  and  vigor  to 
these  dangerous  combinations,  and  unless  the  evil  is 
speedily  remedied,  an  explosion  will  come  that  will 
shake,  if  not  destroy,  the  very  foundation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. To  refuse  to  see  the  danger  that  is  thus 
menacing  the  prosperity  of  our  National  life,  is  the 
most  criminal  folly. 

Another  evil  growing  out  of  this  rampant  spirit  of 
money-getting  is  the  recklessness  in  trade  and  spec- 
ulation. .  But  a  few  years  ago,  with  plenty  on  every 
hand,  with  our  banking  system  on  the  firmest  basis, 
with  faith  and  hope  cheering  on  the  toiling  millions, 
the  country  was  startled  with  the  intelligence  of  the 
failure  of  those  in  whom  the  whole  people  had  con- 
fidence. The  public  mind  at  once  became  panic- 
stricken,  confidence  fled,  bankruptcy  and  ruin  followed, 
industry  was  prostrated,  want  looked  in  at  the  door  of 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    33& 

the  lal)orer,  and  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  times  was 
broken,  and  its  energy  paralyzed.  This  great  calam- 
ity was  the  legitimate  result  of  a  few  men  undertaking 
to  enrich  themselves  by  purchasing  worthless  stocks 
and  bonds  with  which  to  cheat  their  customers;  but 
as  their  customers  refused  to  be  cheated,  they  were 
compelled  to  keep  their  worthless  trash,  and  fail. 

Its  corrupting  power  goes  farther  still,  and,  ex- 
tending into  every  circle  of  life,  is  the  chief  promoter 
of  extravagance  by  inducing  the  less  fortunate  in 
obtaining  wealth  to  make  a  show  of  success  by  adopt- 
ing the  expensive  style  of  those  who  have  the  means 
to  sustain  expensive  living.  All  manner  of  false- 
hood is  resorted  to  by  such  to  enable  them  to  hold  the 
much-coveted  position,  even  for  a  brief  period.  They 
soon  go  down,  covered  with  disgrace  and  dishonor. 
This  mercenary  spirit  is  no  recent  manifestation.  It 
is  co-existent  with  our  National  life  and  prosperity. 
It  has  grown  with  our  growth,  and  strengthened  with 
our  strength.  The  evils  that  I  have  mentioned  are 
but  a  few  that  are  the  legitimate  result  of  its  con- 
trolling power.  The  evils  are  so  numerous  and  so 
palpable  that  the  earnest  demand  of  the  times  is  for 
an  effective  remedy  for  this  disordered  state  of  things. 
The  disease  being  universal,  contaminating  the  whole 
mass,  the  remedy,  to  be  effectual,  must  not  be  ap- 
plied to  classes,  but  to  the  whole  people.  What, 
then,  is  the  remedy  for  this  disorder?  In  this  age  of 
progress,  and  in  this  land  of  rapid  growth  and  devel- 
opment, no  remedy  which  arrests  the  energy  of  the 
American  citizen  and  holds  him  in  check  will  be  ac- 
cepted by  him.     Acquisitiveness  is  the  driving  force 


340    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

of  liis  eliaraeter,  and  has  given  the  impetus  to  our 
National  growth.  Any  remedy  that  would  weaken 
that  force,  even  if  practical,  is  by  no  means  desiiable. 
Such  a  remedy  would  be  attended  with  greater  evils 
than  it  remedied. 

Let  a  new  spirit  be  infused  into  the  American 
people  in  this  regard.  Let  honor  and  integrity  be 
the  badges  of  American  nobility,  instead  of  wealth. 
The  elevation  of  the  life  purpose  of  the  American 
citizen,  and  the  reformation  of  our  public  sentiment, 
must,  to  a  great  degree,  be  the  work  of  the  educated 
minds  of  the  Nation.  The  power  which  is  to  go  forth 
and  stem  this  torrent  of  corruption,  the  influence  that 
is  to  purify  society  and  instill  higher  aims  and  pur- 
poses in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  to  impart  to  the 
American  citizen  a  more  elevated  conception  of  a  true 
manhood,  must  be  sent  out  from  schools,  colleges, 
and  universities. 

In  all  ages  and  times  in  the  past,  the  best  culti- 
vated minds  have  guided  the  direction  of  the  senti- 
ments and  opinions  of  the  mass  of  mankind,  and 
have  been  the  leaders  in  civilization.  It  is  so  at 
the  present  time,  and  will  continue  to  be  in  all  the 
future.  They  are  writing  the  books  that  constitute 
our  literature.  They  are  editing  the  papers  we  are 
reading  daily.  They  are  preaching  the  sermons  we 
hear  every  Sabbath.  They  are  on  the  platform,  lectur- 
ing on  law,  medicine,  politics,  philosophy,  theology, 
and,  in  fact,  all  the  themes  that  interest  and  in- 
struct mankind.  In  these,  and  in  infinite  other 
methods,  they  are  guiding  and  controlling  the  public 
mind.     From  these    influences    much    of   our    public 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    341 

seutimeut  is  formed,  and  from  this  source  our  civ- 
ilization, in  a  great  degree,  receives  its  cast  and 
color. 

That  an  enlightened  and  Christian  Nation  should 
have  become  so  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth, 
and  thus  brought  upon  ourselves  such  a  magnitude 
of  evil  to  corrupt  and  weaken  our  National  life,  sug- 
gests the  inquiry  that  those  who  have  in  the  past  been 
prepared  in  our  halls  of  learning  for  leadership  in  our 
civilization  have  not  been  well  prepared.  Is  our  educa- 
tional system  deficient  in  this  regard  ?  Is  there  not. 
down  deep  in  the  human  soul,  an  attribute  of  nobil- 
ity that  it  does  not  reach  ?  Should  not  the  graduates 
be  as  familiar  with  ethics  as  mathematics?  Why  so 
much  of  the  classics,  and  so  little  of  the  science  of 
knowing  how  to  live?  As  the  mental  power  of  the 
student  is  developed  and  strengthened  in  the  attempt 
to  comprehend  the  laws  that  govern  matter,  and  in 
demonstrating  the  propositions  of  mathematics,  and  in 
grasping  the  almost  hidden  mysteries  of  the  laws  o/ 
language,  why  may  not  a  more  complete  and  ethical 
training  of  ethics  at  the  same  time  be  brino-ino;  forth 
in  the  soul  a  deeper  and  broader  charity,  a  more 
active  and  unselfish  benevolence,  and  a  keener  per- 
ception of  duty  to  God  and  man? 

If  any  part  of  the  education  of  the  student  be 
thorough,  let  the  preference  be  given  to  the  inculca- 
tion of  the  dignity  and  nobility  of  his  being.  Let  the 
glory  of  living  up  to  the  requirement  of  Him  whose 
image  they  bear  be  so  deeply  impressed  on  their 
youthful  minds  that,  when  mature  life  shall  come  with 
all  its  duties  and  obligations,  it   will    be  the  supreme 


342    Demaxds  .L\n  Daxgers  of  the  Times. 

priuciple  of  their  lives — guiding  and  leading  all  their 
thoughts,  words,  and  actions,  above  all  sordid  and 
selfish  aims.  In  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  of  the 
student,  let  the  training  contain,  as  one  of  the  princi- 
pal elements,  an  inspiration  of  manly  courage  to  rise 
above  all  mercenary  considerations  in  sustaining  the 
right  and  condemning  the  wrong.  Our  educated 
minds  should  be  filled  with  a  heroism  that  would 
boldly  snatch  the  imperial  scepter  from  Mammon, 
overthrow  the  throne  of  his  despotic  power,  and,  with 
their  cultivated  powers,  make  hateful  and  hideous  the 
evils  which  have  made  dim  the  glory  and  tarnished 
the  luster  of  our  civilization. 

As  the  overflowings  of  the  Nile  bear  the  dead 
carcasses  from  the  barren  sands,  and  leave  benind  on 
the  sterile  shores  a  rich  and  life-giving  deposit,  which 
calls  forth  an  alnindant  harvest  and  beautifies  the 
desert  with  fruits  and  flowers,  so  should  an  influence 
go  out  from  our  literary  institutions  that  would  purify 
the  land  from  corruption,  and  make  the  places  now 
barren  for  God  and  humanity  to  bring  an  abundant 
harvest  of  justice  and  righteousness,  and  cause  the 
desert  of  selfishness  to  be  beautified  with  the  sweet 
flowers  of  benevolence  and  charity. 

The  mental  activity  of  this  age  is  not  a  more 
distinct  and  marked  characteristic  than  its  impressi- 
bility. The  cultivated  mind,  prompted  by  a  heart 
throbbing  with  a  pure  and  active  sympathy  for  hu- 
manity, in  these  stirring  times  can  demand  and  have 
a  hearing,  and  leave  an  im23ression  on  the  restless 
American  mind  that  never  could  be  made  in  any 
former  time.     The   fact    that    the    whole   energies  of 


Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times.    343 

the  American  people  are  aroused,  aud  the  mental 
powers  drawn  out  to  the  utmost  tension  in  the  con- 
flict of  life,  is  the  best  ground  of  hope,  and  affords 
encouragement  for  the  scholar  and  philanthropist  to 
undertake  the  work  of  guiding  these  activities  in 
purer  channels  and  directions  to  the  attainment  of 
higher  and  nobler  ends.  As  in  the  roar  of  battle 
and  the  smoke  of  conflict  the  flag  of  his  country  "ex- 
cites the  deepest  admiration  of  the  soldier,  if  bravely 
borne,  so  in  life's  struggle,  amid  the  mists  and  fogs  of 
selfishness,  will  the  banner  of  truth  be  hailed  and 
cheered,  if  it  be  found  in  the  hands  of  those  who 
dare  to  fight  to  death  the  errors  that  have  blasted 
the  hopes  and  happiness  of  humanity.  This  is  a  most 
opportune  time  for  the  elevation  of  the  life-purpose 
of  the  American  citizen.  There  seems  to  be  now, 
beneath  the  sordid  and  selfish  in  his  character,  an 
active  and  keener  perception  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  an  earnest  longing  for  the  truth.  While  the 
American  citizen  is  acting  on  a  grade  below  his  rank, 
and  while  the  mercenary  spirit  of  the  time  has 
lowered  his  high  aims  and  purposes,  and  filled  his 
sonl  with  selfishness,  yet  down  deep  in  his  heart  may 
still  be  found  an  earnest  desire  for  a  higher  and 
better  life.  The  bitter  experiences  of  life,  in  his 
struggle  for  wealth,  have  taught  him  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  riches.  The  promised  compensation  for  the 
great  sacrifice  he  made  to  obtain  it  never  came.  The 
sweet  cup  of  joy,  for  which  he  labored  and  toiled,  he 
finds  filled  with  the  bitter  waters  of  remorse.  The 
recollection  of  life's  conflict  brings  not  the  coveted 
peace  and  content  for  which   he  hoped,  but   faithful 


344    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

memory  fills  his  heart  with  shame  and  regret.  He 
finds  but  too  often  that  he  is  envied  by  the  rich  and 
hated  by  the  poor,  for  whom  he  has  shown  no  sym- 
pathy. If  the  thonghtful  and  educated  minds  have 
anything  better  to  jiropose,  he  is  now  ready  to  give 
it  a  fair  consideration. 

Then  let  the  painter  portray  on  the  canvas  the 
hideousness  of  selfishness.  Let  the  poet  put  songs  of 
charity  and  benevolence  in  the  souls  of  men.  Let  the 
scholarly  orator  thunder  his  anathemas  at  the  cor- 
ruptions of  Mammon.  Let  the  press,  with  its  un- 
measured power,  burst  the  fetters  that  have  bound 
it,  and  boldly  assail  this  mercenary  spirit  and  all  the 
ills  it  has  brought  on  the  human  race.  Let  the  min- 
ister of  the  gospel,  with  the  boldness  of  a  Paul  or 
the  fiery  eloquence  of  a  Peter,  impress  the  great 
truth  of  Christianity  on  the  hearts  of  men,  that  if 
they  have  not  the  unselfish  and  self-sacrificing  spirit 
of  Christ,  they  are  none  of  his.  Let  art,  by  her 
beauty,  attract  man  away  from  the  altar  of  Mammon. 
Let  poetry  soften  his  heart  and  inspire  his  soul. 
Let  the  power  of  logic  impart  to  him  a  higher  and 
broader  conception  of  his  being  and  mission;  let 
religion  impress  on  his  mind  the  great  truth  of  his 
immortality  and  let  its  purifying  power  cleanse  his 
soul  from  all  selfishness,  and  lead  him  to  love  God 
supremely,  and  his  neighbor  as  himself. 

Then  will  the  grand  forward  march  of  our  civili- 
zation be  resumed,  and  nobler  ends  and  higher  aims 
animate  humanity.  The  halting  steps  of  human 
progress  will  be  quickened;  confidence  among  men 
will  be  restored;  and  peace  and  good-will  Avill  bring 


Demands  a.\d  Daxgefs  of  the  Times.    345 

joy  and  contentment  to  the  hearts  of  men.  Capital 
will  cease  to  oppress  labor,  and  labor  will  lay  aside 
its  weapons  of  warfare  against  capital,  and  cordially 
extend  the  hand  of  help  and  sympathy.  The  arti- 
ficial distinctions  that  this  mercenary  age  has  created 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor  will  cease  to  be  rec- 
ognized. Wealth  will  no  longer  be  a  badge  of 
honor,  and  poverty  will  not  be  disgraceful.  The 
honest  man,  wherever  found,  will  be  the  nobleman 
that  men  Avill  deliglit  to  honor. 

The  surplus  money  that  is  now  prostituted  to  the 
base  use  of  gratifying  a  miserly  greed  for  colossal 
fortune,  or  scpiandered  on  the  senseless  tinselry  that 
fashion  and  folly  have  invented  as  the  guise  and  garb 
of  riches,  will  be  diverted  in  a  thousand  new  chan- 
nels to  encourage  and  enlighten  mankind.  Our  edu- 
cational institutions  will  no  longer  languish  for  want 
of  support,  but  the  wealth  which  has  been  used  to 
corrupt  and  debase  man  will  furnish  more  teachers, 
more  extensive  libraries  and  cabinets,  and  complete 
endowments,  so  that  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
poor,  as  well  as  the  rich,  may  participate  in  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  liberal  education. 

As'  the  evil  power  has  been  nourished  and 
strengthened  by  feeding  on  itself,  so  will  the  remedy 
be  eifectively  increased  by  its  own  application ;  and 
every  effort  made  in  the  elevation  of  man  will  re- 
enforce  itself  with  double  power ;  and  grandly  and 
gloriously  will  the  work  of  the  regeneration  of  the 
American  citizen  move  on.  Then  will  that  righteous- 
ness that  exalteth  a  nation  call  down  the  smiles  of 
heaven  on  a  happy  and  prosperous  people ;  and  then, 


^4G    Demands  and  Dangers  of  the  Times. 

in  the  completeness  of  his  character  aucl  the  nobility 
of  his  being,  will  the  American  citizen  be  hailed  as 
rightfully  bearing  the  commission  of  the  Almighty 
as  the  leader  in  the  great  work  of  liberating,  enlight- 
ening, and  elevating  the  human  race. 


SELF-CULTURE. 

C"^  ROWTH  and  development  is  manifestly  the  law 
T  of  the  Creator.  In  the  natural  world  this  growth 
is  not  the  eifect  of  culture,  but  the  effect  of  the  op- 
eration of  the  unseen  yet  resistless  law  of  God.  We 
see  its  wonderful  work  on  every  hand.  It  challenges 
both  admiration  and  astonishment. 

From  the  brown  earth  in  the  spring-time  comes 
forth  an  endless  variety  of  plants  and  grasses  from 
seeds  so  small  as  to  defy  the  search  of  the  curious, 
carpeting  the  earth  with  a  covering  too  beautiful  for 
human  art  to  successfully  imitate,  hiding  the  desola- 
tions made  by  the  frosts  of  winter.  The  little  germ 
hidden  in  the  earth  sends  forth  a  lily  of  such  beauty 
and  loveliness  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was 
not  arrayed  like  unto  it.  From  the  smallest  acorn 
this  mysterious  power  calls  out  the  little  shrub  which, 
by  the  slow  growth  and  development  of  a  century  or 
two,  becomes  the  giant  oak,  the  storm-defying  king 
of  the  forest.  The  barren  branches  of  the  solitary 
tree  in  the  field,  when  the  warm  and  smiling  month 
of  May  comes  and  drives  away  the  frosts,  are  bidden, 
by  this  wonderful  law,  to  clothe  themselves  with 
fresh  foliage,  and  are  required  each  year  to  become 
longer  and  stronger,  throwing  farther  and  wider  their 


Delivered  at  a  meeting  of  young  men  on  the  Acton  As- 
sembly ground. 

:^47 


o48  Self-Culture. 

refreshing  shade  to  the  panting  herds  seeking  their 
protecting  shelter. 

In  the  animal  as  well  as  in  the  vegetable  kingdom 
we  see  on  every  hand  the  wonderful  results  of  this 
mysterious  force.  Man  himself  comes  up  from  feeble 
and  helpless  infancy  to  the  full  stature  and  strength 
of  strong  manhood  by  the  operation  of  this  law,  and 
not  by  any  will-power  of  his  own.  His  physical 
growth  is  in  the  hands  of  his  Maker,  and  man  has 
no  voice  or  control  over  it.  He  may  desire  it  ever 
so  much,  yet  he  can  not  add  a  single  cubit  to  his 
stature. 

Man  being  the  crowning  glory  of  all  the  works  of 
his  Creator — the  most  beautiful  and  wonderful  work 
of  all,  his  form  shaped  by  the  hand  of  Divinity  that 
he  might  a])pear,  as  well  as  be,  the  lord  of  all  cre- 
ated things — God  has  expressly  forbidden  that  man 
should  mar  the  beauty  of  his  own  perfect  work.  He 
reserves  his  physical  grow^th  to  himself,  and  man  can 
not  hinder  or  cliange  it.  All  nature  in  this  regard  is 
like  the  Author,  unchanging  and  unchanged,  forever 
the  same. 

But  God  gave  to  man  a  portion  of  his  own  divine 
nature  in  bestowing  on  him  the  wonderful  power  of 
reasoning,  and  then  placed  the  mental  and  moral 
growth  in  man's  own  keeping,  holding  him  respon- 
sible for  the  result.  He  simply  planted  the  seeds  in 
the  human  mind  and  soul,  and  bade  mnn  cultivate 
and  develo])  himself.  Man's  destiny  in  these  regards 
is  with  himself.  He  may,  if  he  chooses,  by  an 
earnest  and  constant  cultivation  of  the  natural  pow- 
ers  his  Maker   has  given    him,  grow  on   through  all 


Self-Culture.  340 

the  days  of  his  life.  The  iiicutal  and  moral  man 
raay  be  constantly  putting  forth  longer  and  stronger 
branches,  and  be  beautified  with  fresher  and  brighter 
foliage.  He  may  be  a  dwarf  or  a  giant,  just  as  he 
may  elect.  Fi-om  this  stand-point  I  will  present  a 
few  thoughts  to  the  young  men  who  are  here  to-day. 

Real  manhood — full,  true,  and  complete  man- 
hood— should  be  the  highest  ambition  of  every  young 
man.  It  is  above  wealth  and  higher  than  position. 
It  Avas  my  fortune,  a  long  time  ago,  to  have  known 
the  Hon.  W.  P.  Fessenden,  of  Maine.  He  w^as  one 
of  the  brightest  and  ablest  men  this  country  has  ever 
produced.  You  will  remember  he  was  appointed  to 
the  high  position  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Fill- 
ing the  position  for  some  time,  he  was  recalled  to  *he 
Senate  of  the  United  States  by  his  State.  His  kind 
and  genial  manner  and  his  high  sense  of  justice  and 
honor  won  all  the  hearts  of  the  heads  of  bureaus, 
clerks,  and  subordinates  of  the  treasury,  so  that  when 
the  day  came  that  he  was  to  retire,  they  came  in  a 
body  to  manifest  their  respect,  and  to  express  their 
regret  at  the  separation.  He  made  them  a  speech 
that  has  no  superior  for  eloquence,  truth,  and  beauty 
in  the  English  language.  I  regret  that  I  have  not 
preserved  it  so  that  I  might  read  it  to-day. 

The  thought  that  so  impressed  me  in  his  address 
was  this :  He  said  to  those  young  men  that  no  posi- 
tion was  higher  than  that  of  a  true  gentleman ;  that 
a  man,  in  all  that  the  word  imports,  outranked  any 
position  that  man  could  hold.  It  struck  me  with 
great  force,  and  I  have  never  forgotten  it.  It  is  to 
this    manhood    that    I    want    to    call    your   attention 


350  Self-Culture. 

to-day.  Our  young  men  are  looking  forward  to  the 
attainment  of  wealth  or  office  or  position.  These 
glittering  prizes  dazzle  their  eyes,  and  attract  their 
vision,  and  excite  their  hopes  and  ambition.  The 
false  notion  Jargely  prevails  with  our  young  men  and 
boys  that  if  these  be  beyond  their  reach,  there  is  not 
much  else  worth  striving  for,  and  they  give  up  and 
simply  float  along,  consenting  to  be  nothing  and  no- 
body in  the  world.  Our  false  education  has  led  us 
into  this  error. 

When  I  was  a  boy  at  school,  when  the  last  great 
day  of  school  came,  and  we  were  on  hand  Avith  a 
great  exhibition  of  our  acquirements,  some  eloquent 
lawyer  or  minister  would  make  a  speech  to  us,  and 
teH  us  that  some  of  us  would  be  President  or  gov- 
ernor or  something  of  the  sort.  We,  a  lot  of  tow- 
headed  urchins,  would  look  at  each  other  and  smile 
at  the  insane  suggestion.  We  could  not  grasp  it;  it 
was  too  far  off.  You  tell  a  boy  that  he  is  going  to 
be  something  in  the  future,  and  to  begin  now.  If 
you  convince  him  that  he  will  become  au  author,  he 
will  sharpen  his  pencil  and  commence  at  once.  If 
you  tell  him  he  will  be  a  painter,  he  will  beg  you 
for  a  nickel  to  buy  a  box  of  paint,  and  commence 
daubing  without  delay.  But  you  tell  him  that  he  is 
to  be  a  banker  or  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  does  not  know  how  to  begin,  and  becomes 
discouraged,  and  thinks  you  are  fooling  with  him. 

I  have  often  seen,  and  you  have  seen,  parents, 
with  maternal  pride  and  fatherly  affection,  exhibit 
their  children,  witli  the  remark  that  they  intend  to 
make   a   President  out   of  that   boy ;   or,  if  they  are 


Self-Culture.  351 

less  ambitious,  they  will  say  that  they  will  make  a 
lawyer  or  a  doctor  or  a  preacher  out  of  him.  Thus 
from  infancy  it  has  been  rung  in  our  ears  that  we  are 
to  be  something  in  the  way  of  holding  office  or  hav- 
ing a  professional  standing  among  men.  The  profes- 
sion or  the  position  is  made  to  outrank  the  man. 
Did  you  ever  hear  a  parent  say  that  he  intended  to 
make  a  man  simply  out  of  his  boy — a  man  in  honor, 
a  man  in  education,  a  man  socially  and  intellectually? 
The  advantage  of  holding  out  this  ambition  to  a  boy 
is,  that  he  can  commence  on  it  at  once,  and  work  at 
it  all  the  time.  As  soon  as  he  concludes  that  he  will 
be  a  man  he  can  begin.  No  matter  how  poor  he  is, 
he  does  not  need  any  capital  to  set  up  the  business 
of  being  a  man. 

If  he  has  any  bad  habits  he  can  commence  on. 
them.  He  can  spit  the  chew  of  tobacco  out  of  his 
mouth  before  habit  fastens  it  there  for  all  his  life. 
He  can  throw  aside  his  cigar,  and  spend  the  money 
that  he  wastes  in  that  way  for  good  books  and  mag- 
azines. He  can  cut  loose  from  all  vile  associates  who 
teach  him  to  be  profane  and  vulgar.  He  can  put 
aside  the  dime  novel  and  all  such  flashy  reading  that 
causes  him  to  want  to  be  a  pirate,  and  read  something 
that  'will  make  him  want  to  be  a  man.  He  can  stt)p 
going  to  the  saloon,  and  join  the  Good  Templars,  and 
start  in  the  smooth  road  of  temperance  and  sobriety. 
All  this  he  can  do  at  once.  If  he  wants  to  practice 
politeness  and  act  like  a  gentleman^  he  has  a  chance 
to  cultivate  these  gifts  by  being  kind  to  his  mother, 
and  obedient  to  his  father,  and  polite  to  his  sister. 
All  this  any  boy  can  do  if  he  simply  determines  to 


352  Self-  Cul  i  ure. 

make  a  man  out  of  himself.  The  result  is  with  him; 
and  if,  when  he  becomes  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
and  can  vote,  and  is  counted  a  man,  he  is  yet  igno- 
rant, vulgar,  and  uncouth,  corrupted  by  bad  habits, 
it  is  the  result  of  his  own  choice. 

He  may,  by  cultivation  and  watchfulness,  keep 
his  eye  towards  the  better  side  of  humanity,  and  fill 
his  soul  with  charity  and  love  for  the  human  family, 
so  that  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  heart  his  mouth 
will  speak  words  of  praise  of  all  about  him,  binding 
mankind  in  the  sweet  bonds  of  confidence  and  trust; 
or  he  may  expel  charity  from  his  soul,  and  fill  his 
heart  with  envy  and  jealousy ;  and  then  from  the 
corrupt  fountain  within  him  will  come  defamation 
and  backbiting,  his  wicked  and  lying  tongue  befoul- 
ing and  soiling  the  reputation  of  all  about  him  with 
the  venomous  slime  of  slander — ''  slander,  the  foulest 
whelp  of  sin." 

He  may  polish  himself  until  he  may  sparkle  like 
a  diamond,  or  he  may  remain  all  his  life  as  rough  as 
the  stone  in  the  quarry.  He  may  be  so  cultivated 
and  refined  as  to  confirm  the  declaration  of  Holy 
AVrit,  that  he  is  but  a  ''  little  lower  than  the  angels," 
or  he  may  remain  as  ignorant  as  the  beasts  of  the 
field.  He  may  preserve  the  purity  and  innocence  of 
childhood,  or  he  may  become  as  vicious  as  a  demon. 
He  may,  by  the  kindness  of  his  soul  and'  the  gentle- 
ness of  his  spirit,  carry  joy  and  happiness  with  him 
wherever  he  goes,  and  be  hailed  with  glad  welcome 
by  his  fellow-men  ;  or  he  may  become  a  terror  and  a 
curse  to  all  who  may  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  com- 
pelled to  associate  with  him.     It  is  within  his  [)ower 


Self-Culture.  353 

to  be  an  example  of  virtue,  illustrating  in  his  daily 
life,  and  in  all  his  contact  with  his  fellow-meu,  the 
beauties  of  the  Christian  religion,  his  very  presence 
being  a  foretaste  of  the  world  beyond ;  or  he  may  be 
so  vile  that  his  presence  would  suggest  that  he  was 
an  envoy  from  the  regions  of  perdition.  He  may 
have  in  possession  a  soul  filled  with  joy  and  content- 
ment, rejoicing  gratefully  in  the  many  blessings  in 
life,  loving  and  being  loved ;  or  he  may  have  a  soul 
poisoned  with  hate  and  ill-will,  tossed  on  the  angry 
billows  of  discontent,  despising  and  being  despised. 
He  may  become  a  bold  and  manly  opponent  to 
popular  wrong,  defying  public  clamor,  standing  all 
the  time  for  right,  or  a  skulking  coward,  fleeing  be- 
fore the  harmless  roar  of  public  opinion.  He  may 
be  a  man  of  decision,  seeing  the  path  of  duty  before 
him  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  and  proceeding 
at  once  to  overcome  them,  thus  making  his  life  a 
grand  success  and  furnishing  an  example  of  what  de- 
cision and  force  of  character  may  accomplish,  believ- 
ing with  the  poet, — 

"  What  you  can  do,  or  dream  you  can,  begin  it : 
Genius  has  boldness,  power,  and  magic  in  it ; 
Only  engage,  and  then  the  mind  grows  heated ; 
Begin,  and  then  the  work  Mill  be  completed," — 

or  he  may  halt  and  hesitate, — 

"  Lose  the  day  loitering,  't  will  be  the  same  story — 
To-morrow,  the  next  day,  more  dilatory ; 
The  indecision  brhigs  its  own  delays, 
And  days  are  lost  lamenting  over  days." 

He  may  become  an  honest  and  honored  citizen,  or 
a  loafer  and  a  dead-beat.  Possibilities  for  good,  as 
well  as  possibilities  for  evil,  may  be  his  just  due  in 


354  Self-  Cul  i  ure. 

accordanco  witli  lii.s  own  election  and  the  heed  he 
takes  to  his  ways.  He  makes  his  choice  himself,  and 
shapes  his  own  future.  Circumstances  over  which  he 
may  have  no  control  may  modify  the  result  in  some 
degree;  but  the  main  truth  still  stands,  that  self-cul- 
ture makes  the  man. 

The  mistake  that  our  young  men  and  boys  make 
is,  that  they  do  not  put  a  proper  estimate  on  real  man- 
hood. They  may  have  a  longing  to  be  lawyers,  doc- 
tors, ministers,  or  politicians,  and  as  that  involves  a 
good  deal  of  study  and  the  cost  of  an  education,  they 
give  up,  and  float  along  without  any  definite  object  in 
view.  It  is  no  honor  to  be  a  lawyer  or  a  doctor  or  a 
politician  unless  you  possess  real  manhood. 

Have  you  never  seen  a  law^yer  who  had  no  hold 
on  the  public  confidence?  The  profession  did  not 
help  him  or  give  him  a  character.  Did  you  never  see 
a  doctor  who  was  the  victim  of  such  bad  habits  that 
nobody  respected  him?  His  being  a  physician,  though 
a  successful  one,  did  not  give  him  the  good  opinion 
of  those  about  him. 

There  are  politicians  who  may  have  been  in  some 
degree  successful,  yet  so  destitute  of  principle  and 
honor  and  having  so  few  of  the  true  elements  of  real 
manhood,  that  nobody  will  trust  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  have  you  not  seen  men  carrying  hods,  driving 
drays,  working  in  ditches  and  at  the  mechanic's 
bench,  who  were  noble  men,  the  soul  of  honor  and 
honesty,  who  had  the  good-will  and  confidence  of  all 
with  W'hom  they  came  in  contact?  Is  it  not  nobler  to 
be  a  man  doing  your  duty  well  and  faithfully  in  the 
circle  you  are  called  to  move  in,  respecting  yourself 


Self-Culture.  355 

and  compelling  the  respect  of  others  in  the  hiunble 
walks  of  life,  than  in  what  is  falsely  called  the  higher 
circles  to  be  known  as  a  knave  and  a  cheat? 

If  you,  young  men,  will  fix  your  eye  on  real  man- 
hood, and  determine  to  have  it — to  bring  out  all  that 
is  good  in  you  and  develop  to  the  highest  degree  the 
gifts  God  has  given  you — you  will  be  in  demand  in 
the  coming  future.  An  observing  world  will  compel 
the  mediocres  and  incapables  to  stand  aside  and  make 
a  place  for  you.  The  world  needs  more  men.  It 
will  need  them  much  more  in  the  future.  In  politics 
we  have  so  many  voters  and  so  few  real  men  under- 
standing the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship, 
that  the  Nation  is  often  on  the  very  verge  of  anarchy, 
and  some  despairing  souls  are  ready  to  say  that  the 
days  of  our  Republic  are  nearly  numbered.  The 
State  needs  more  men  who  have  in  their  youth 
studied  the  form  of  the  Government  and  the  history 
of  the  country,  so  that  they  can  silence  the  vaporings 
of  the  demagogue,  and  vote  down  the  blathering  poli- 
tician who  would  take  advantage  of  the  voter. 

We  need  more  intelligent  men  in  the  Church; 
men  who  do  not  regard  the  Church  as  simply  a  ship 
to  carry  them  safely  over  the  troubled  sea  of  life,  and 
land  them  safely  in  heaven  with  as  little  expense  and 
self-sacrifice  as  possible,  but  men  who  see  in  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ  the  means  not  only  of  saving  man- 
kind, but  also  as  a  mighty  civilizing  agency  to  lift 
mankind  out  of  the  pit  of  ignorance  and  degradation 
to  a  full  and  complete  comprehension  of  their  rights 
and  duties  to  each  other  and  to  God  ;  men  who  so 
iove  to  be  useful  that  they  will  stand  ready,  not  to 


356  Self-Culture. 

do  as  little  as  they  can  and  retain  their  place  in  the 
Church,  but  be  willing  and  anxious  to  make  large 
sacrifices  for  the  good  of  our  common  humanity. 
Religion  languishes  to-day  and  the  Church  is  shorn 
of  her  power,  not  because  so  few  men  belong  to  the 
Church,  but  because  there  are  so  few  who  really  com- 
prehend the  value  of  the  religion  of  Christ  to  them- 
selves and  to  the  w^orld,  and  who  put  so  low  an  es- 
timate on  its  vahie  that  they  are  not  willing  to  sac- 
rifice much  to  promote  it. 

The  temperance  cause  is  often  injured  by  the  in- 
temperate zeal  and  lack  of  intelligence  of  those  who 
have  charge  of  it.  Men,  forgetting  that  all  public 
laws  must,  in  a  free  government  like  this,  have  their 
fountain  and  origin  in  a  public  opinion  that  must 
come  from  the  calm  and  dispassionate  judgment, — 
men  thus  rush  hastily  forward  to  pass  extreme  penal 
enactments ;  and,  when  they  are  on  the  statute-book, 
there  is  no  healthy  and  vigorous  public  opinion  to 
compel  their  enforcement,  and  they  remain  a  dead- 
letter;  and  the  rum-seller  goes  on  with  his  work  of 
ruin  and  death,  and  laughs  at  their  folly.  The  men 
are  but  children  in  mind  and  judgment.  They  have 
grown  physically  to  manhood,  but  their  uncultivated 
minds  have  had  little  or  no  attention,  and  they  know 
not  how  to  manage  this  great  evil.  History  is  but 
repeating  itself.  If  boys  and  young  men  would 
spend  their  leisure  moments  in  looking  after  what 
has  been  in  the  past,  and  keep  pace  with  the  current 
events  of  the  times,  they  would  know  better  how  to 
meet  the  responsibilities  of  their  manhood  than  we 
men  are  meeting  the  demands  upon  us. 


Self-  Culture.  357 

In  passiug  through  the  country  this  last  winter, 
going  through  several  States,  I  have  found  at  all  the 
railway  stations  men  standing  with  a  vacant  stare, 
looking  as  though  they  had  not  a  hope  or  purpose  in 
life.  I  have  thouglit  that  Darwin  must  have  been  a 
traveler,  and  it  was  from  seeing  these  sights  that  he 
was  led  to  the  promulgation  of  his  theory  that  man 
was  the  progeny  of  the  ape.  These  men,  thus  stand- 
ing and  gaping  at  the  busy  world,  were  once  boys 
like  you,  but  refused  to  think  of  their  future  or 
make  any  provision  for  their  coming  manhood ;  and 
you  see  the  sad  result. 

It  was  Plato  who  said  that  "  man  is  a  two-legged 
animal  without  feathers;"  and  although  he  said  it 
away  back  in  the  Dark  Ages,  if  he  lived  now,  he 
would  repeat  it,  and  stick  to  it. 

Many  a  poor  boy  will  say :  "  How  can  I  be  a  man  ? 
I  am  an  orphan ;"  or,  "  ^ly  father  is  too  poor  to 
help  me ;  and  how  can  I  develop  my  mind,  when  I 
can  not  find  the  books,  or  command  the  means  of 
culture?"  We  have  in  this  country  both  public  and 
private  libraries  within  the  reach  of  all  who  are 
ready  to  read ;  and  our  young  men  waste  time  each 
week  that  would,  if  applied  to  study,  give  them  the 
contents  of  a  volume  of  knowledge.  The  intelligence 
is  at  your  command,  if  you  really  want  it.  The  tree 
of  knowledge  is  full  of  ripe  fruit ;  and  her  laden 
boughs  are  reaching  out  towards  you,  if  you  will  only 
partake  of  it.  It  is  within  the  reach  of  all.  We 
have  good  sermons  preached  every  Sabbath,  that  are 
full  of  truth,  thought,  and  information.  You  can 
learn   there    without   cost,  if  you   will    attend.     AVe 


358  Self-Culture. 

have  Sabbath-schools  that  are  free  to  all,  with  intelli- 
gent teachers;  here  you  can  find  help.  Come  to  this 
fountain  of  knowledge.  Education  and  help  is  abun- 
dant on  every  hand,  if  you  will  avail  yourself  of  it. 

Let  me  say  another  thing  by  way  of  encourage- 
ment. If  an  observing  world  around  you  finds  you 
are  really  doing  your  best  to  be  a  man,  you  will  find 
help  and  words  of  encouragement  on  every  hand. 
Boys  and  young  men  make  the  mistake  that  what 
they  do  is  not  noticed,  and  that  they  have  no  charac- 
ter and  standing  in  society.  That  is  a  fatal  error. 
Every  boy  and  young  man  in  this  community  has  a 
character  and  standing,  as  well  as  the  men.  If  you 
visit  the  saloons,  and  loaf  around  the  town  from  day 
to  day,  and  do  nothing ;  if  yon  associate  with  dis- 
reputable people,  it  does  not  escape  observation;  and 
the  community  around  you  are  making  up  their  minds 
in  regard  to  your  future.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you 
are  taking  heed  to  your  ways,  seeking  good  associ- 
ations, forming  habits  of  industry  and  economy,  and 
are  trying  all  the  time  to  improve  your  manners,  you 
will  have  it  all  put  to  your  credit ;  and  you  will  soon 
hear  words  of  commendation  from  those  whose  good 
opinion  you  desire  to  have. 

And  right  here  let  me  say  a  word  to  older  persons 
who  are  present.  When  you  see  a  boy  doing  his 
duty  and  trying  to  be  a  man,  you  ought  not  to  fail  to 
let  him  know  that  you  observe  it,  and  give  him 
credit  with  an  emphasis  for  all  the  good  you  see  in 
him.  It  will  cost  us  nothing  to  praise  him  •  and  it 
will  do  us  good,  as  well  as  him.  If  we  were  as  ready 
to  commend  boys  as  we  are  to  condemn  them,  and  as 


Self-  Cvl  ture.  8  5  9 

ready  to  praise  thorn  as  we  are  to  blame  them,  we 
would  be  doiuj^  them  a  good  service.  Boys  and  young 
men  like  to  be  appreciated,  as  well  as  older  people; 
and  a  kind  word  now  and  then  will  re-enforce  a  boy 
wonderfully,  and  help  make  a  man  out  of  him.  You 
can  in  that  way  obtain  the  regard  of  the  boy ;  and 
your  good  cheer  Avill  help  him  in  his  fight  against 
bad  habits  and  evil  associates. 

Among  the  bad  habits  that  destroy  all  hopes  for 
a  true  manhood  is  the  habit  of  visiting  drinking- 
saloons,  and  drinking  there.  It  breaks  down  the 
self-respect  of  a  young  man.  It  puts  him  in  associa- 
tion with  the  very  worst  young  men  of  the  town. 
He  soon  finds  himself  drifting  away  from  good  soci- 
ety, and  is  counted  with  the  vicious  and  depraved. 
He  is  compelled  to  take  that  society,  being  all  that  is 
left  him.  All  of  their  wickedness  becomes  his ;  and 
while  his  better  nature  and  the  consequences  cause 
him  often  to  halt  and  revolt,  yet  he  feels  that  good 
people  will  not  talvc  him  back  into  their  confidence; 
and  he  goes  on  in  his  downward  career,  and  becomes 
a  drunkard,  a  tramp,  or  a  criminal.  The  road  to 
manhood  is  not  through  or  by  the  grog-shop.  You 
must  give  up  the  saloon,  or  abandon  the  idea  of  be- 
coming a  man  in  all  that  the  word  imports.  The 
saloon  has  taken  many  a  l)oy  and  young  man,  and, 
in  less  time  than  it  takes  for  a  course  in  college,  it 
has  graduated  him  a  drunkard,  a  pauper,  or  a  crimi- 
nal. It  has  never  graduated  a  man.  Even  those 
who  are  not  so  unfortunate  are  debased  and  degraded 
by  strong  drink. 

Id)>^ness  is  another  enemv  to   the  attainment  of 


360  Self-Culture. 

manhood.  A  boy  or  young  man  wlio  can  consent  to 
go  clay  after  day  without  work  or  trying  to  improve 
himself,  will  never  reach  manhood.  He  may  grow 
up  to  the  stature  of  manhood — he  may  become  old 
enough  to  vote;  but  he  will  never  be  a  man.  He 
will  fill  no  place  in  the  w^orld,  and  Avill  be  the  slave 
and  serf  of  the  men  of  energy  and  industry. 

I  have  seen  some  young  men  in  my  town — and  I 
doubt  not  that  the  same  sights  may  be  seen  here — 
standing  day  after  day,  leaning  against  the  houses 
or  hitching-racks,  without  seeming  to  have  a  single 
ambition  to  be  or  accomplish  anything, — so  lazy  that 
they  would  not  even  grow  to  the  height  of  a  man 
physically  if  it  required  any  effort  on  their  part.  Is 
there  not  some  way  by  which  the  eyes  of  such  may  be 
opened,  so  that  they  may  peer  into  the  future,  and  see 
that  there  is  a  noble  manhood  before  them  that  they 
may  attain  if  they  will  wake  up  and  make  the  effort? 
Are  there  not  Christian  people  and  humanitarians  in 
every  town  who  will  speak  a  word  of  encouragement, 
and  inspire  a  hope  in  these  dejected  hearts,  and  help 
them  as  they  push  out  in  the  stream  of  active  life  ? 

Some  young  men  will  say  that  it  is  no  use  for 
them  to  try  to  do  much  ;  that  they  have  no  natural 
talents  like  others.  In  thirty  years  of  active  life 
I  have  been  compelled  to  modify  my  opinions 
about  these  natural  gifts.  There  is  not  much  differ- 
ence, after  all,  in  the  natural  powers  of  men.  I  am 
led  to  conclude  that  these  gifts  are  very  evenly  di- 
vided. Once  in  a  century  some  great  genius  will 
come  to  the  world,  and  flash  like  a  meteor  or  a  comet 
across  the  path  of  humanity ;    but  the  great  mass  of 


Self-Culture.  361 

men  are  very  much  alike.  That  one  sneceeds  better 
than  another  is  because  he  had  in  his  boyliood  a 
glimpse  of  the  glory  of  true  manhood,  and,  having 
faith  that  he  could  attain  il,  he  determined  to  have 
it;  and,  while  other  boys  were  halting  and  idling 
away  their  time  or  weakening  their  powers  with 
bad  habits,  he  rushed  past  them  ;  and  when  the  time 
came  to  be  a  man,  he  was  a  man.  Then  the  world 
would  say.  What  gifts  God  has  given  that  young  man  ! 

Other  young  men  will  say,  I  can  not  make  my 
life  a  success  because  of  poverty.  Poverty  is  a  bless- 
ing to  a  young  man,  if  he  has  the  real,  true  grit.  It 
is  an  obstacle  in  his  way  that  calls  out  his  energy  to 
surmount  it ;  and  if  he  wins — as  win  he  can  if  he 
determines  to  do  so — the  victory  will  be  greater  and 
the  reward  sweeter  than  if  somebody's  money  put 
him  through. 

Poor  young  men  have  this  advantage  over  rich 
ones — when  a  poor  young  man  shows,  by  his  energy 
and  industry,  that  he  intends  to  be  a  man,  he  excites 
the  sympathy  of  all  good  people,  and  they  are  in- 
clined to  help  him.  They  are  not  expecting  so  much 
from  him,  and  if  he  exhibits  the  true  metal  they  will 
rally  round  him  and  assist  him.  This  I  know  from 
absolute  experience.  I  have  gone  the  rough  road  of 
poverty  in  my  boyhood,  and  I  know  how  it  is.  And 
while  I  thought  it  was  very  severe  then,  I  look  back 
and  thank  God  with  a  sincere  gratitude  that  my 
father  did  not,  and  could  not,  give  money  to  make 
me  indolent  and  worthless,  as  it  often  does.  Poor  as 
you  may  be,  and  moderate  as  you  may  think  your 
abilities,  may  be  you  have  some  element  of  greatness 


302  Self-Culture. 

and  power  within  yon  iliat  may  make  itself  felt  and 
recognized  if  yon  go  at  the  work  of  life  in  earnest, 
determining  to  succeed. 

Do  not  forget,  also,  that  yon  mnst  learn  to  do 
something  well.  Do  not  fail  to  remember  that  it  is 
infinitely  more  honor  to  be  a  good  mechanic  than  a 
poor  lawyer  ;  that  it  is  better  to  be  a  brakeman  on  a 
railroad  than  a  brakeman  on  the  train  of  human  prog- 
ress by  trying  to  do  something  that  you  are  not 
adapted  to.  All  work  that  is  useful  to  the  human 
race  is  honorable  to  the  worker,  and  the  honor  in- 
creases in  exact  proportion  to  the  perfectness  of  its 
accomplishment.  A  trade  or  calling  of  some  kind 
within  the  range  of  your  capacity  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial. But  the  difficulty  will  be  presented,  that  if  you 
do  prepare  for  manhood,  you  will  not  be  able  to  find 
a  place  to  work.  Be  not  content  with  finding  a  place. 
Make  a  place  ;  that  you  can  do.  If  you  do  your 
work  well,  and  are  honest  and  intelligent,  the  very 
necessities  of  human  affairs  will  make  a  place  for 
you.  The  world  is  fnll  of  half-men,  half-skilled, 
half-hearted,  half-energy,  half-honest  men.  If  you 
are  a  full  pattern  of  a  man  in  the  circle  in  which  you 
are  called  to  move,  by  common  consent  the  others  will 
stand  aside  for  you. 

As  the  race  of  man  improves,  as  new  life  and  en- 
ergy is  infused  into  every  department  of  human  so- 
ciety, that  new  energy  will  produce  new  work  and 
more  of  it,  the  comforts  of  life  will  have  to  be  pro- 
vided for  this  better  type  of  manhood,  and  there  will 
be  enough  to  do.  This  Nation  wastes  enough  each 
year  in  her   vices    and   in    her   extravagance    to  give 


Self-Culture.  363 

work   to    the    wliole   human   family   in    providing  for 
what  the  world  really  needs. 

And,  again,  let  me  ask  this  question  :  Do  you 
not  really  want  to  be  a  man  for  the  glory  there  is  in 
real  manhood  ;  a  man  as  perfect  as  human  nature  can 
be ;  a  man  in  harmony  with  himself,  in  harmony  with 
his  fellow-men,  in  harmony  with  his  God;  a  man  so 
developed  and  cultiv^ated  that  he  meets  all  the  de- 
mands made  upon  him  by  his  social,  his  intellectual, 
and  his  moral  nature  ;  a  man  that  comprehends  his 
responsibility  in  living,  and  who  has  a  heart  so  in 
sympathy  with  his  fellow-men  that  he  is  ready  to  rise 
above  self  and  selfish  ends  when  the  demand  is  made, 
and,  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  assist  in  bearing  the 
burden  of  others;  a  man  whose  whole  soul  sings  to 
him  the  sweetest  songs  of  approval  when  each  day's 
work  is  done ;  a  man  whose  conscience  will  cheer 
him  on  with  the  welcome  plaudit,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant?"  That  nobility  of  manhood,  in 
this  good  land  of  ours,  with  her  free  schools,  her 
cheap  literature,  her  open  Churches,  is  for  every  boy 
and  young  man  here.  He  can  have  it,  if  he  wants  it. 
He  can  command  it,  if  he  will  take  heed  to  his  ways. 
No  power  can  keep  him  from  it.  Nobody  has  a  pat- 
ent on  this,  the  noblest  work  of  God.  To  obtain  it, 
it  is  not  necessary  that  your  father  should  be  rich  or 
a  man  of  distinction.  It  is  free  -and  023en  to  every 
one  who  has  the  energy  and  the  industry  and  the 
manliness  to  commence  now  to  win  it.  You  can  not 
fight  this  battle  for  manhood  with  a  substitute.  You 
must  win  by  your  own  strong  heart  and  patient  en- 
durance.    If  your  purpose  be  pure  and  unselfish;  if 


364  Self-  Cul  ture. 

you  want  to  make  return  to  the  great  Creator  for  the 
gifts  that  he  has  given  you;  if  you  want  to  be  a  man, 
filling  your  place  in  the  world,  and  making  mankind 
better  all  the  time  by  your  good  work  and  better  in- 
fluence,— tiien  will  come  that  more  than  human  help, 
the  Divine  power,  to  re-enforce  you  in  the  conflict. 

It  can  not  but  be  that  any  rational  mind,  under- 
taking to  fulfill  his  mission  among  men,  will  fail  till 
it  seek  for  that  Spirit  that  animated  the  sinless  life 
of  the  only  perfect  Being  that  was  ever  on  the  earth. 
Every  young  man,  therefore,  with  the  loftiest  aspira- 
tions, desiring  to  be  as  perfect  in  his  humanity  as  our 
fallen  nature  will  admit,  will  be  a  Christian.  It 
purifies  the  purpose  of  his  life,  magnifying,  expand- 
ing, and  extending  it  beyond  this  earthly  conflict, 
holding  out  an  eternity  of  joy,  peace,  and  love  Avith 
the  best  and  purest  that  have  lived  in  the  world. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  ODDFELLOWSHIP. 

WE  LIVE  in  a  practical  age.  As  Odd  Fellows 
we  must  be  able  to  give  good  aud  sufficient 
reasons  for  our  existence  as  an  Order.  What  is  the 
equivalent  for  the  time  and  money  spent  in  perpet- 
uating this  organization?  Why  this  pomp  and  pa- 
rade, these  gorgeous  regalias,  and  those  large  aud 
costly  lodge-rooms?  Is  our  Order  a  helper  in  ele- 
vating and  civilizing  mankind?  Does  it  do  a  work 
that  would  not  be  done  but  for  us?  In  the  short 
time  that  I  will  claim  your  attention,  my  brethren, 
and  this  large  assembly  of  friends,  I  will  try  to  an- 
swer these  plain  and  pertinent  questions. 

It  was  the  great  Edmund  Burke  who  said  that 
*'the  spirit  of  civilization  is  composed  of  two  parts — 
the  spirit  of  religion  aud  the  spirit  of  a  gentleman." 
Assuming  this  to  be  true  and  a  correct  definition,  we 
may  justly  claim  that  our  Order  is  a  mighty  civiliz- 
ing force.  In  the  first  place,  Oddfellowship  makes 
belief  in  God  and  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity 
the  very  corner-stone  of  her  temple.  No  man  can 
enter  the  threshold  of  the  lodge  until  he  has  given 
his  sincere  assent  to  this  article  of  our  faith.  The 
great  moral  maxims  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
found  all  through  the  ritual  and  go  to  make  up  the 
Odd  Fellow  creed. 


Delivered  at  Pi-ovidence,  Rhode   Island,  and  at  a  public 
meeting  of  the  Sovereign  Grand  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows. 

365 


366    The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

We  make  war  agaiust  vice  in  all  its  forms,  not 
only  because  it  is  injurious  to  the  human  well-being, 
but  because  it  is  forbidden  by  a  kind  and  loving 
Heavenly  Father.  AVhile  we  do  not  claim  to  be  a 
religious  institution,  we  do  insist  that  the  spirit  of 
religion  permeates  our  Order  and  is  its  best  feature. 
AVe  simply  claim  to  be  a  helper  to  raise  man  to  a 
nobler  and  higher  life.  Tried  by  the  broader  test 
that  whatever  makes  man  kinder  and  nobler,  more 
useful  and  self-sacrificing,  is  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  Plim  who  founded  the  Christian  system,  it 
might  be  claimed  that  our  Order,  both  in  faith  and 
practice,  is  in  some  degree  an  exponent  of  the  pure 
ethics  of  the  Bible.  Oddfellowship,  having  in  no 
small  degree  the  spirit  of  religion,  has  within  it  the 
elements  of  culture  to  make  those  within  the  range 
of  its  influence  gentlemen  in  the  broadest  sense  of 
the  word. 

AVhat  constitutes  the  gentleman?  In  an  old 
English  law-book  a  gentleman  is  defined  to  be, 
"  One  who,  without  any  title,  bears  a  coat  of  arms, 
or  whose  ancestors  have  been  freemen  ;"  and  accord- 
ing to  another  old  book,  "  Whosoever  studieth  in  the 
universities,  who  is  familiar  with  the  laws  of  the 
realm,  who  professeth  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences, 
and,  to  be  short,  who  can  live  idly,  without  manual 
labor,  will  bear  the  port,  charge,  and  with  the  coun- 
tenance of  a  gentleman,  he  shall  be  called  a  gentle- 
man." That  might  do  for  an  ancient  English  gentle- 
man ;  but  to  us  it  has  some  of  the  ear-marks  of  the 
latest  and  most  improved  style  of  the  genuine  Amer- 
ican loafer. 


The  Philosopiiy  OF  Oddfellowship.     367 

It  is  to  be  conft'S.sed  with  .shame  that  we  free 
and  independent  Americans  have  not  entirely  rid 
ourselves  of  the  English  prejudices  in  favor  of  wealth 
and  birth,  and  still  associate  gentility  with  those  who 
claim  to  have  had  distinguished  parentage,  or  who  have 
inherited  somebody's  wealth.  But  the  better  judg- 
ment of  the  American  mind  defines  the  gentleman  to 
be  one  who,  in  all  things,  according  to  his  opportu- 
nities, is  the  highest  type  of  real  manhood.  This 
places  all  men  on  their  individual  merits,  and, 
rising  above  all  questions  of  rank  or  riches,  opens 
the  way  to  the  highest  position  to  all  who  have  self- 
love  or  self-respect  enough  to  seek  to  attain  it. 

It  is  the  mission  of  Oddfellowship  to  develop 
and  strengthen  this  self-respect  in  all  w^ho  connect 
themselves  with  the  Order.  It  takes  no  cognizance 
of  the  wealth,  culture,  or  literary  attainments  of  those 
who  knock  at  our  doors  for  admission.  It  only  looks 
carefully  at  the  manly  qualities  of  the  applicant. 
When  admitted,  he  knows  that  that  was  his  only  pass- 
port. He  therefore  knows  that  he  must  be  a  gentle- 
man to  maintain  his  position.  He  begins  to  have  a 
deeper  respect  for  himself,  and  commands  the  respect 
of  his  brethren.  He  finds  that  the  tone  of  the  lodge 
is  above  mean  actions  and  vicious  habits;  and  he 
commences  the  work  of  self-reformation,  if  he  has 
been  the  victim  of  bad  habits  in  the  past. 

Every  effort  of  man  to  make  himself  more  just 
to  himself  will  bring  with  it  a  corresponding  desire 
to  be  more  generous  to  others.  Create  in  man  an 
ambition  to  be  noble,  to  bring  out  of  himself  all  that 
the  opportunities  will  allow  him  to  do,  and  you  have 


368     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

from  that  time,  within  him  as  a  motive  power  and 
animating  force,  the  spirit  of  a  gentleman.  The  pur- 
poses, principles,  and  peculiar  organization  of  our 
Order  seem  to  be  exactly  adapted  to  this  work. 
Fraternizing  human  hearts  on  a  platform  broader 
than  party,  wider  than  sectarianism,  induces  a  gener- 
ous spirit  of  toleration,  and  breaks  down  prejudice. 
It  cultivates  large  charity  for  the  opinions  of  others, 
and  is  a  friend  to  the  promotion  of  truth,  and  a  foe 
to  error.  Binding  these  men  together  with  the 
strong  bands  of  Friendship,  Love,  and  Truth,  for  the 
high  and  holy  purpose  of  alleviating  human  suffer- 
ing and  bearing  one  another's  burdens,  makes  the 
individual  joy  sweeter,  and  the  personal  burdens  of 
life  lighter. 

In  order  to  prevent  men  from  becoming  selfish, 
they  must  be  reached  through  their  social  nature. 
They  must  often  be  called  away  from  the  buying  and 
selling  and  getting  gain,  and  be  made  to  see  and  feel 
that  life  is  something  nobler  than  this.  They  must 
be  taught  that  the  sweet  consciousness  of  being  help- 
ful to  their  fellows  is  the  most  delightful  cup  of  joy 
that  this  life  affords ;  that  the  thing  this  world  needs 
is  not  more  money  nor  more  brains ;  but  more  heart, 
more  sympathy,  more  self-sacrifice.  It  ought  not  to 
be,  as  it  is,  one  of  the  proverbs  of  the  world,  that 
"  Man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thousands 
mourn."  The  truthfulness  of  this  proverb  is  a  sad 
commentary  on  the  condition  of  the  human  race ;  not 
only  the  inhumanity  of  positive  acts  of  cruelty,  but 
the  blasting  indifference  that  sweeps  over  and  through 
society  like  the  simoom  of  Sahara,  drying  up  all  the 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.     369 

refreshing  fountains  of  human  sympathy,  withering 
and  blighting  the  sweet  flowers  of  friendship  and 
love,  and  poisoning  the  soul  with  envy,  slander,  and 
avarice. 

This  disordered  state  of  things  has  made  this 
Order,  and  others  of  like  character,  a  necessity. 
Men  wanted  to  come  around  a  common  altar  and 
lay  their  hearts  together,  that  they  might  be  warmer, 
and  with  united  hands  vow,  each  to  the  other,  that 
no  man  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  him- 
self As  the  scales  that  avarice  had  placed  over  his 
eyes  begin  to  fall  off,  as  the  hard  crust  of  selfishness 
that  had  inclosed  his  heart  is  removed,  he  begins  to 
see  new  beauties  in  the  lives  of  others,  and  the  liber- 
ated heart  begins  to  beat  and  throb  for  others'  woes. 
It  must  be  conceded  that  the  chief  cause  of  the  self- 
ishness of'  the  world — the  lack  of  sympathy  among 
men,  and  the  reason  why  human  society  is  so  filled 
w^ith  jealousy — is,  that  mankind  stand  so  far  apart  as 
never  to  know  each  other. 

The  mountain,  when  seen  from  a  distance,  repels 
the  beholder  with  its  beetling  cliffs,  it*  cold  and  bar- 
ren rocks,  and  its  snow-covered  crest.  But  on  a 
nearer  approach  may  be  seen  the  sparkling  brook, 
leaping,  laughing ;  among  the  rocks  may  be  seen  the 
flowers  here  and  there,  lending  their  sweetness  to 
charm  the  beholder  from  the  contemplation  of  the 
rougher  aspect ;  and  the  experienced  eye  may  dis- 
cover in  the  caverns  and  gulches  the  indubitable 
evidence  that  the  forbidding  surface  covers  mines  of 
the   most  precious   metals.     The    mountain    exterior 

may  be  rough   and   repulsive,  but  its  heart  is  filled 

24 


370     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

with  gold  and  silver  and  the  most  precious  metals. 
So  of  human  character.  Let  its  dark  and  forbidding 
aspects  be  inspected  by  him  who  carries  the  lamp  of 
charity,  and  whose  soul  sends  out  the  light  of  truth 
aud  love,  and  a  thousand  new  beauties  appear,  which, 
but  for  this  nearer  and  better  approach^  would  never 
have  been  discovered. 

"What  might  be  done  if  men  were  wise, — 

What  glorious  deeds,  my  suffering  brother, — 
Would  they  unite  in  love  and  right, 
And  cease  their  scorn  of  one  another? 

Oppression's  heart  might  be  imbued 

With  kindling  drops  of  loving  kindness. 

And  knowledge  pour  from  shore  to  shore 
Light  on  the  eyes  of  mental  blindness. 

All  slavery,  warfare,  lies,  and  wrongs, 
All  vice  and  crime,  might  die  together; 

And  wine  and  corn,  to  each  man  born, 
Be  fi'ee  as  warmth  in  summer  weather. 

The  meanest  wretch  that  ever  trod. 

The  deepest  sunk  in  guilt  and  sorrow. 
Might  stand  erect  in  self-respect, 

And  share  the  teeming  world  to-morrow. 

What  might  be  done  ?     This  might  be  done. 
And  more  than  this,  my  suffering  brother, — 

More  than  the  tongue  ere  said  or  sung, — 
If  men  were  wise  and  loved  each  other." 

Seizing  hold  of  this  important  fact,  we  have  or- 
ganized this  Order,  and  to  cultivate  nearer  fraternal 
relations  among  men  is  our  high  purpose.  That  we 
have  succeeded  in  the  past,  and  are  succeeding  now, 
all  true  and  earnest  Odd  Fellows  know  to  a  cer- 
tainty.    The  Odd  Fellow  may  be  poor ;  he  may  iiave 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.    371 

hard  and  rough  hands  and  a  sunburnt  face;  he  may 
feel  that  a  cold  and  indifferent  world  passes  him  by, 
careless  of  his  toils  and  burdens;  but  he  knows  that, 
with  his  labor-stained  and  scanty  wardrobe,  he  will 
meet  with  a  hearty  welcome  from  his  brethren  wher- 
ever he  may  meet  them,  and  a  willing  ear  and  a 
sympathetic  heart  for  all  the  sorrows  of  his  life.  In 
coming  to  his  lodge-room,  he  knows  he  will  meet ' 
there  the  very  ones  who  were  first  at  his  bedside 
when  the  heavy  hand  of  disease  was  laid  upon  him ; 
will  meet  there  those  who  kept  their  untiring  vigils 
by  his  side  through  the  long  nights  of  his  suffering, 
and  who  assuaged  his  pain  with  the  tender  touch  of 
fraternal  regard;  those  who,  when  disease  has  wasted 
his  strength,  and  robbed  his  wife  and  children  of  the 
support  that  his  strong  arm  had  brought — when 
gaunt  want  came  in  and  sat  doAvn  in  his  household 
as  a  guest  by  the  side  of  poverty — unlocked  the 
treasure  of  the  lodge,  and,  if  that  was  empty,  opened 
the  inexhaustible  treasure  of  generous  hearts,  and 
drove  away  want,  and  bade  plenty  come  in  and  abide 
at  his  hearth,  a  constant  guest. 

He  knows,  further,  that  if  death  should  lay  his 
cold  hand  upon  him,  that  if  an  indifferent  world 
should  pass  by  on  the  other  side,  these,  his  brethren, 
would,  with  tenderness  and  sorrow,  follow  him  to  the 
grave.  He  knows  that,  living  or  dead,  they  will 
not  forsake  him;  that  when  he  is  buried  they  will 
cherish  his  memory,  and  continue  to  make  a  practical 
demonstration  of  their  regard  by  protecting  his  widow 
from  want,  and  by  clothing  and  educating  his  orphan 
children.     He   has  himself  borne  these  burdens  and 


372    The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

performed  these  kindly  offices  for  others.  He  has 
been  au  eye-witness  to  such  humane  ministrations. 
He  knows  that  it  is  not  the  mere  empty  profession  of 
charity.  He  has  given  as  well  as  received;  and, 
whatever  may  be  his  wealth  or  position  in  life,  he  is 
made  to  feel,  at  a  common  altar,  consecrated  to  this 
sacred  work,  that  he  is  the  peer  of  any  of  the  noble 
men  who  constitute  this  fraternal  baud.  And  so  he  is. 
It  can  not  but  be  that  men  bound  together  by 
the  performance  of  such  kindly  deeds  toward  each 
other  will  develop  for  each  other  the  strongest  fraternal 
feeling.  In  this  world  of  disappointment  and  trial, 
in  this  cup  of  life  that  has  so  much  of  bitterness  and 
gall,  making  the  spirit  to  flag  and  the  heart  to  become 
weak,  there  is  no  tonic  so  agreeable  to  take  as  human 
sympathy.  And  the  time  when  the  heart  will  most 
gratefully  remember  and  appreciate  kindness  is  the 
time  of  adversity.     Leigh  Hunt  wrote : 

"Abou  Ben-Adhem  (may  his  tribe  increase!) 
Awoke  one  night  from  a  sweet  dream  of  peace, 
And  saw  within  the  moonlight  in  his  room, 
Making  it  rich  and  like  a  lily  in  bloom, 
An  angel  writing  in  a  book  of  gold. 
Exceeding  peace  had  made  Ben-Adhem  bold, 

,  And  to  the  presenile  in  the  room  he  said : 
*  What  writest  thou  ?'    The  vision  raised  its  head. 
And  with  a  look  made  all  of  sweet  accord, 
Answered:  'The  names  of  those  who  love  the  Lord.' 
'And  is  mine  one?'  said  Abou.     'Nay,  not  so,' 
Replied  the  angel.     Abou  spoke  more  low. 
But  cheerily  still,  and  said:  *I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  who  loves  his  fellow-men.' 
The  angel  wrote,  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
It  came  again  with  a  great  wakening  light, 
And  showed  the  names  that  love  of  God  had  blest, 
And  lo !  Ben-Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest." 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.    373 

This  is  the  holy  bond  that  binds  our  Order 
together  in  closer  relations  than  men  in  the  ordinary 
ties  of  life  are  bound.  These  blessed  results  are  not 
confined  to  the  lodge-room.  We  feel  kinder  towards 
all  men.  It  makes  us  better  citizens.  There  is 
nothing  selfish  about  the  teaching  or  practice  of  the 
true  Odd  Fellow.  While  we  have  all  the  faults  that 
are  common  to  humanity,  while  we  make  no  claim  to 
perfection  of  character,  yet  we  do  insist  that  the 
teachings  we  are  constantly  receiving  in  the  lodge- 
room  cause  us  to  be  more  charitable  and  tolerant 
with  our  fellow-men.  There  are  no  men  who  indulge 
less  in  slander,  or  who  are  slower  in  holding  up  to 
the  public  gaze  the  faults  of  humanity,  than  members 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  There 
are  no  men  who  average  better  in  the  honesty  of  theii 
lives  or  manly  purpose  than  members  of  our  Order. 

One  of  the  noblest  ambitions  of  human  life  is  the 
earnest  desire  to  stand  high  in  the  good  opinion  oi 
the  best.  It  is  a  mighty  lever  to  lift  a  man  above 
mean  actions,  and  a  strong  prop  to  hold  him  from 
falling  into  vicious  habits. 

What  better  agency  can  be  found  to  stimulate  this 
ambition  than  our  Order  ?  Character  is  the  only  test 
that  admits  to  membership,  and  to  hold  the  one  the 
Odd  Fellow  must  maintain  the  other.  This  develops 
his  self-respect.  It  calls  out  his  manly  qualities,  and 
suppresses  the  sordid  and  selfish  tendencies  of  his 
nature.  The  bravest  and  best  soldier  is  always  the 
best  loved  and  has  the  most  friends  at  home.  Such 
a  soldier  places  too  high  an  estimate  on  his  reputation 
to  stain  it  with  cowardice.     The  skulks  and  cowards 


374    The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

are  those  who  never  put  any  value  on  the  good  opinion 
of  others.  The  same  rule  will  apply  in  the  contest  in 
life.  Those  most  anxious  to  stand  well  in  the  good 
opinion  of  the  virtuous  and  the  best  will  make  the 
bravest  fight  against  the  temptation  to  form  evil 
habits,  and  will  fight  longest  and  stand  firmest  for 
the  right. 

Therefore  I  proclaim  it  as  my  belief  that  whatever 
prompts  these  fraternal  relations,  and  magnifies  this 
sort  of  self-respect,  is  in  the  interest  of  humanity 
and  the  correct  conduct  of  human  life.  It  seems  to 
me  that  this  proposition  is  self-evident,  that  the  theory 
and  practice  of  our  Order  does  have  this  effect.  I  do 
not  include  in  this  statement  those  who  only  have  a 
name  in  the  Order — those  who  belong  to  it  but  do 
not  apprehend  its  cl\practer,  and  stand  so  far  off  as 
not  to  imbibe  its  spirit,  and  never  drink  from  its 
deep,  fraternal  fountains.  To  be  an  Odd  Fellow  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  there  must  be  a  full  comprehension 
of  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  Order,  and  a  devoted 
consecration  to  its  work.  A  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
must  be  cultivated,  and  a  cheerful  willingness  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  others.  To  such  an  Odd  Fellow 
connection  with  the  Order  is  a  continual  joy.  His 
work  comes  like  a  benediction  to  his  own  soul.  He 
has  never  really  lived  who  has  not  blessed  others. 
He  may  have  existed ;  he  may  have  passed  his 
allotted  time  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  but  he  has 
known  nothing  of  the  exquisite  enjoyment  of  life. 
He  may  have  had  all  that  wealth  could  purchase  for 
him;  he  may  have  been  supplied  with  every  want; 
he  may  have  inhaled  all  the  sweet  odors  of  flattery 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.     375 

that  float  around  those  iu  high  places;  but  his  soul 
will  at  last  be  as  barren  as  a  desert  if  he  has  never 
wiped  a  tear  from  the  face  of  the  weeping,  or  planted 
a  new  joy  in  the  heart  of  the  desponding.  The  poet 
in  his  fancy  wrote : 

"  Man  hath  two  attendant  angels 
Ever  waiting  at  his  side ; 
With  him  wheresoe'er  he  wanders, 
Wheresoe'er  his  feet  abide. 

One  to  warn  him  when  he  darkleth, 

And  rebuke  him  if  he  stray  ; 
One  to  leave  him  to  his  nature, 

And  so  let  liim  go  his  way. 

Two  recording  spirits,  reading 

All  his  life's  minutest  part; 
Looking  in  his  soul  and  listening 

To  the  heatings  of  his  heart, — 

Each,  with  pen  of  fire  electric, 

Writes  the  good  and  evil  wrought ; 

Writes  with  truth  that  adds  not,  errs  not, 
Purpose,  action,  word,  and  thought." 

Taking  the  poet's  fancy  for  fact,  how  would 
men  shrink  from  the  inspection  of  the  record  they 
are  daily  making!  How  would  its  each  page  be 
shaded  with  the  dark  lines  of  selfishness;  how  would 
it  be  marred  with  the  somber  hue  of  covetousness, 
and  too  often  smeared  with  the  blood-stains  of  in- 
justice and  cruelty !  Did  they  question  its  accuracy, 
how  would  their  denial  put  tongues  in  the  gaping 
wounds  they  have  made  in  the  peace  and  happiness 
of  others,  to  testify  against  them !  How  would  the 
bony  fingers  of  gaunt  want   and   shrunken  poverty 


376     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfelloivsh/'-. 

point  out  their  deliiiquoncies,  and,  from  the  depths  of 
sin  and  shame,  from  the  purlieus  of  wieliedness  and 
the  slums  of  degradation,  come  that  most  woeful  of 
all  cries,  pleading  in  their  ears,  "No  man  careth  for 
my  soul !"  How  many  might  be  saved  if,  when  ad- 
verse winds  begin  to  drift  them  away,  they  received 
a  helping  hand  or  strengthening  look,  or  even  a  lov- 
ing word,  from  those  about  them!  But,  failing  to 
receive  any  help,  and  chilled  M-ith  the  indiiference  of 
those  from  whom  they  expect  re-enforcements,  these 
despairing,  souls  give  up  all  resistance,  and,  floating 
out  on  the  whirlpool  of  dissipation,  are  broken  and 
crushed  on  the  rocks  of  their  own  vicious  habits. 

The  world  is  filled  with  the  wail  of  those  who 
are  being  destroyed  by  the  weight  of  their  own  vices, 
and  on  every  hand  is  heard  the  harsh  note  of  con- 
tention and  strife.  Men  meet  in  the  arena  of  life, 
and  struggle  for  the  mastery.  Men  look  complacently 
on  the  ruin  of  others,  and  rejoice  at  it  if  their  own  in- 
terests are  promoted  by  it. 

The  grand  object  of  our  Order  is  to  right  the 
wrongs  that  hatred  and  selfishness  have  fastened  on 
our  social  life,  and  to  develop  love  and  charity  for 
our  neighbors.  It  is  one  of  the  divisions  of  organ- 
ized resistance  to  the  assaidts  of  malice  on  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  mankind.  To  be  good  soldiers  in 
this  army,  we  must  see  to  it  that  our  own  hearts 
foster  no  evil.  Not  only  must  we  expel  envy,  jeal- 
ousy, and  hate,  but  the  embers  of  love  and  charity 
for  others  must  be  fanned  into  a  flame,  so  that  we 
will  joyously,  as  well  as  bravely,  fight  for  the  redemp- 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.    377 

tion  of  our  fellow-men.     To  this  work  the  attention 
of  the  best  minds  must  be  turned  at  once. 

The  percentage  of  ignorance  and  worthlessness  is 
fearfully  large  among  men.  When  we  come  to  re- 
member that  they  constitute  so  large  an  element  of 
power  in  this  Government,  it  is  alarming,  and  por- 
tends evil  for  our  National  stability.  It  is  the  high- 
est patriotic  duty  to  purify  the  fountain  of  power. 
If  the  people  are  virtuous  and  intelligent,  their  rep- 
resentatives and  servants  will  be  upright,  and  justice 
and  good  government  will  prevail  everywhere. 

While  our  Order  takes  no  part  in  political  strife 
in  a  partisan  sense,  yet  the  first  duty  an  Odd  Fellow 
learns,  even  before  he  is  declared  to  be  a  member,  is 
to  be  faithful  to  his  country.  There  is  one  patriotic 
duty  we  can  do, — to  be  right  ourselves.  That  duty 
we  ought  to  keep  constantly  before  us.  Our  beloved 
Order  requires  of  us  that  we  should  be  honest,  up- 
right, and  faithful  citizens,  teaching  all  about  us,  by 
example,  the  beauty  of  integrity  and  purity,  so  that 
our  presence  and  life  Mill  be  a  constant  rebuke  to 
the  vulgarity  of  vice.  The  Odd  Fellow  should  by 
word  and  deed — and  by  his  money,  if  he  have  any 
surplus — encourage  the  desponding,  impart  hope  to 
the  despairing,  and  procure  employment  for  those 
who  would  work  if  they  had  a  chance ;  to  see  to  it 
that  the  many  neglected  children  are  brought  into 
our  free  schools;  to  inspire  in  their  young  hearts  to 
be  something  more  than  tramps.  There  is  so  much 
to  be  done  all  around  us  that  we  may  all  have  a 
chance  to  work.      None    of   us,  my   brethren,  is  so 


378    The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

poor  and  insignificant  but  he  can  do  something  for 
our  common  humanity.  It  requires  no  large  capi- 
tal or  extensive  influence  to  do  good  if  our  hearts  are 
enlisted  in  the  work.  As  Odd  Fellows,  let  us  not 
forget  the  aims  and  purposes  of  our  Order.  Let  us 
also  remember  that  the  world  will  judge  us  by  our 
works,  and  not  by  our  professions. 

The  age  in  which  we  live  is  so  eminently  practical 
that  mere  profession  counts  for  nothing  if  not  sus- 
tained by  corresponding  action.  The  world  is  sick 
and  tired  of  the  "  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cym- 
bal "  of  empty  profession.  The  old  rule,  "  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  has  never  been  more  rig- 
idly enforced  than  now.  We  must  l)e  able  to  stand 
the  test.  When  in  forty  years  we  find  the  whole 
American  continent  checkered  with  railways,  connect- 
ing ocean  with  ocean,  binding  the  zones  together  with 
iron  links  ;  when  we  lay  the  telegraph  wire  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  and  enable  the  Old  and  the  New 
World  to  talk  familiarly  together ;  when  on  the  high 
towers  of  our  great  cities  Edison  swings  out  to  an  as- 
tonished and  admiring  world  his  electric  light,  so  that 
the  very  midnight  darkness  flees  away  seeking  a  place 
to  hide,  and  the  domes  and  spires  and  gorgeous  pal- 
aces appear  as  at  midday  ;  when  the  telephone  en- 
ables a  whole  city  to  talk  together  as  if  around  the 
same  table, — we  begin  to  boast  of  this  grand  age,  we 
look  with  pity  and  contempt  on  the  ages  past. 

We  talk  of  our  rapid  progress  and  higher  civili- 
zation. It  remains  to  be  seen  what  are  the  substan- 
tial advantages  of  these  grand  discoveries.  That  can 
only  be  told  when  sufficient  time  shall  disclose  to  Avhat 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.     379 

extent    their  influence  and  power  elevate  and    better 
the  condition  of  the  great  mass  of  humanity. 

If  this  boasted  civilization  reaches  man  where  he- 
may  be  found,  and  fills  him  with  the  noblest  aspira- 
tions to  be  like  his  Creator,  to  make  his  life  nobler 
and  his  heart  kinder,  then  let  the  song  of  praise  be 
sung;  let  the  shout  ring  out  loud  and  clear,  that  man, 
immortal  man,  is  coming  up  by  our  improved  loco- 
motion to  a  higher  plane ;  that  the  electric  light  has 
made  him  see,  with  a  brighter  and  clearer  vision,  his 
duty  and  his  destiny,  and  that  the  telegraph  and  tel- 
ephone have  put  the  language  of  truth  and  soberness 
to  his  lips.  Then  we  can  say  with  joyful  huzzahs, 
"  All  hail,  progress !"  But  if  this  can  not  be  truth- 
fully said,  then  let  our  boasting  cease.  If  the  lever  of 
human  progress  is  not  long  enough  to  reach  man 
wherever  he  may  be  found — if  it  is  not  strong  enough 
to  lift  him  to  a  better  life — it  is  not  worth  the  name. 
Man  must  be  the  focal  point  for  all  this  modern 
light,  or  it  is  no  better  than  darkness.  The  chiefest 
and  best  science  is  that  of  knowing  how  to  live. 

When  the  last  page  of  the  history  of  the  race  is 
written,  and  the  record  of  human  progress  is  com- 
plete, that  page  will  be  the  brightest  that  contains 
the  record  of  that  peerless  time  in  which  more  was 
accomplished  than  in  any  other  period  in  subduing 
hate  and  conquering  human  selfishness,  in  elevating  the 
great  mass  of  humanity  out  of  the  marshes  and  ma- 
laria of  discord  and  strife  to  the  high  and  generous 
plane  of  regard  for  others'  rights  and  reputation, 
where  they  may  inhale  the  pure  atmosphere  of  mutual 
confidence  and  respect.     It  will  outshine  the  boasted 


380      The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

times  that  produced  here  and  there  a  mighty  warrior, 
a  gifted  statesman  or  au  orator,  an  accomplished 
painter  or  an  eminent  poet.  These  men  of  wonderful 
power  and  gifts  come  once  in  a  century,  and  flash 
across  the  pathway  of  humanity  like  a  brilliant  meteor. 
The  golden  age  will  be  when  men,  of  whatever  talent 
or  station,  come  to  a  better  understanding  of  them- 
selves and  their  relations  to  God  and  their  fellow-men. 

We  have  given  too  much  attention  and  worship  to 
the  individual  genius  and  not  enough  to  the  ordinary 
man.  Let  not  so  much  care  be  given  to  improved 
machinery  and  increased  locomotion,  but  rather  let 
the  deep  concern  be  for  a  higher  type  of  man.  Let 
us  take  a  broader  view.  Law,  science,  education,  art, 
and  society  must  all  have  for  their  j)rime  object  the 
improvement  of  the  common  man.  With  the  religion 
of  Christ  in  the  forefront,  let  all  these  be  helpers  in 
the  grand  work  of  redeeming  man  from  the  many 
ills  that  poison  his  life. 

The  grand  mission  of  our  Order  is  to  bring  men 
into  better  relations.  If  filling  the  heart  of  man  with 
love  for  his  fellow-men  crowds  out  wrong  from  his 
life,  then  Oddfellowship  is  a  blessing.  If  visiting  the 
sick  and  the  suffering,  burying  the  dead  and  educating 
the  orphan,  make  the  heart  of  man  softer,  and  expel 
selfishness  from  his  nature,  toning  down  the  harsh- 
ness of  his  character,  and  making  him  kinder  and 
gentler,  then  is  our  Order  to  be  hailed  as  a  benedic- 
tion. If  overlooking  the  mere  artificial  distinctions 
society  makes  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  and  the 
bringing  of  all  good  men  up  to  the  same  level,  mak- 
ing character  the  only  test,  and  giving  the  same  hon- 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.     381 

ors  to  all  alike,  and  permittiug  all  to  participate  in 
the  same  benefits, — if  these  be  calculated  to  raise  man 
above  the  mercenary  spirit  of  the  times,  and  teach 
him  to  live  for  nobler  ends  and  aims  and  hiolier  pur- 
poses, then  indeed  must  Oddfellowship  be  hailed  as  a 
benefactor  to  the  race.  If  the  cultivation  and  devel- 
opment of  man's  social  nature  make  the  burden  and 
ills  of  life  less  heavy,  and  the  joys  of  life  sweeter  and 
more  enduring,  then  may  Ave  justly  claim  that  this 
institution  is  largely  increasing  the  sum  total  of  hu- 
man happiness. 

We  who  love  her  principles  and  joyfully  ])artici- 
pate  in  her  beneficent  practices  most  sincerely  believe 
it  does  accomplish  all  these  things.  Therefore  we 
hail  with  pride  the  standard  of  Oddfellowship,  and  on 
this  occasion  come  together  rejoicing  in  the  triumphs 
of  the  past  and  animated  with  high  hopes  for  the 
future. 

For  many  years  our  Order  has  existed.  While 
she  has  improved  the  methods  of  working,  she  has 
never  for  an  instant  been  diverted  from  the  humane 
purpose  of  her  organization.  She  has  moved  steadily 
forward,  taking  no  part  in  partisan  warfare  or  secta- 
rian wrangling,  but  all  the  time  and  constantly  seeking 
to  fraternize  mankind  and  elevate  human  character. 
With  the  divisions  and  classifications  of  human  so- 
ciety our  Order  holds  no  communion.  Party  and^ect, 
that  too  often  produce  discord  and  strife,  find  no 
countenance  in  our  lodges.  The  politician  is  expressly 
forbidden  to  attempt  to  use  the  Order  for  partisan 
purposes.  He  is  no  more  permitted  to  lay  his  hands 
on  her  altar  than  was  Uzzah,  the  Benjamite,  to  touch 


382     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship. 

the  Ark  of  the  Cov'euant.  It  is  our  constant  practice 
and  purpose  to  unite  mankind  in  deeds  of  benedic- 
tion ;  for  discord,  to  substitute  good-will ;  to  drive 
Hate  from  the  throne  he  has  usurped,  and  crown  Love 
the  empress  of  man's  heart. 

It  has  been  urged  as  an  objection  to  our  Order,  that 
it  is  a  secret  society.  A  half  a  century  ago  this  was 
a  most  formidable  objection  in  the  way  of  our  Order. 
Year  by  year  the  narrowness  of  this  objection  has  be- 
come more  and  more  manifest,  until  its  opposition  has 
become  so  feeble  that  it  is  not  worthy  of  notice  now. 
It  is  not  pretended  by  the  most  stubborn  opponent  of 
the  secret  character  of  our  Order  that  our  principles 
or  practices  are  not  made  public,  but  that  we  meet 
behind  barred  doors,  and  that  none  but  members  are 
permitted  to  take  part  in  our  deliberations.  The 
common  sense  of  mankind  has  long  since  pronounced 
this  a  most  trivial  objection.  All  organizations — re- 
ligious, benevolent,  or  political — have  their  private 
and  confidential  meetings,  and  rightfully  and  prop- 
erly have  their  own  secrets  that  they  withhold  from 
the  world  outside.  Every  well-conducted  family  is 
a  secret  society  in  the  same  degree  that  we  are,  and 
every  individual  has  locked  in  his  own  breast  a  vol- 
ume that  will  ever  remain  a  sealed  book  to  the  rest 
of  mankind.  Against  all  these  there  can  be  found 
non^  so  stupid  as  to  urge  an  objection. 

When  all  other  organizations  allow  the  world  to 
know  all  they  do;  when  domestic  planning  is  done 
on  the  house-top  or  on  the  street;  when  the  most 
radical  objector  to  secret  societies  will  make  public 
proclamation  of  all  his  thoughts  and  purposes, — then, 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowship.    383 

and  not  until  then,  will  we  seriously  consider  the  pro- 
priety of  dispensing  with  the  services  of  the  outside 
and  inside  sentinel. 

It  is  also  urged  against  us  that  we  profess  more 
than  we  practice.  To  this  charge  we  plead  guilty. 
Candor  compels  us  to  do  so ;  but  in  doing  so,  we 
must  be  permitted  at  the  same  time  to  claim  that  we 
have  no  patent  right  on  this  human  frailty.  It  is 
one  of  the  strange  phases  of  human  character  that 
our  profession  does  run  so  far  ahead  of  our  practice. 
It  is  one  of  the  impenetrable  mysteries  that  is  be- 
yond the  bound  of  human  philosophy.  All  mankind 
are  at  fault  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  both  individ- 
ually and  in  their  associated  capacities.  Even  polit- 
ical parties  and  politicians  are  not  entirely  free  from 
the  fault.  The  Odd  Fellows  come  as  near  practicing 
■what  they  profess  as  anybody ;  and,  but  for  the  fear 
that  I  would  be  charged  with  being  an  enthusiast,  I 
would  say  that  we  come  nearer. 

To  establish  this  fact,  I  would  call,  as  corrobo- 
rating witnesses,  the  many  poor  men  who  are  this 
day  on  beds  of  affliction,  and  whose  sufferings  are  in- 
creased because  of  their  inability  to  put  on  their  re- 
galia, and  march  with  their  brethren,  and  participate 
in  the  joys  of  this  occasion,  but  whose  hearts  are  at 
the  same  time  made  glad  that  the  beneficial  pro- 
visions of  our  Order  prevent  want  from  re-enforcing 
affliction.  I  would  call  on  the  many  widows  of  our 
deceased  brethren,  the  burden  of  whose  grief  has 
been  lightened  and  the  bitterness  of  whose  sorrow 
has  been  assuaged  by  the  sympathy  and  relief  given 
by  the  brethren  of  the  deceased.     I  would  call  on  the 


384     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellow  ship. 

many  orphans,  an  almost  countless  multitude,  to  tell 
if  we  have  not,  in  compliance  with  our  promise  and 
with  our  profession,  fed,  clothed,  and  educated  them — 
if  we  have  not  been  a  father  to  the  fatherless.  I 
would  call  on  you,  my  bretliren,  to  say  if  your  daily 
life  has  not  been  lifted  to  a  higher  plane  by  the  fra- 
ternal spirit  of  our  Order;  if  it  has  not  toned  down 
the  asperities  of  your  temper,  has  not  made  your 
spirit  kinder  and  gentler,  and  your  hearts  more  un- 
selfish and  self-sacrificing. 

If  we  would  continue  to  retain  the  confidence  of 
mankind,  and  maintain  our  existence  as  an  Order, 
we  must  continue  to  be  true  to  our  profession.  Let 
not  the  unparalleled  prosperity  of  our  Order  and  its 
growth  into  popular  favor  cause  us,  in  the  pride  of 
our  hearts,  to  lose  sight  of  the  simplicity  of  her  aims 
and  purposes.  Let  not  our  large  and  stately  lodge- 
rooms,  the  costly  regalia,  and  the  pomp  and  pride  of 
such  a  gala-day  as  this,  call  our  minds  from  the 
grander  mission  of  fraternizing  human  hearts  and 
alleviating  human  suffering.  Let  us  be  able  to  stand 
the  test.  All  worthy  organizations  have  more  to  fear 
from  prosperity  than  persecution.  This  is  our  danger 
now.  Let  us  begin  our  next  year  with  high  re- 
solves to  be  true  to  ourselves,  true  to  humanity,  true 
to  God. 

We  live  in  a  boastful  age.  High  claims  are  made 
for  the  progressive  characteristics  of  this  present  time. 
The  improvements  in  locomotion,  in  communication, 
the  labor-saving  machines,  and  a  thousand  other  in- 
ventions, are  called  to  bear  testimony  to  human  prog- 
ress.    Old  forms  and  usages  are  abandoned,  and  new 


The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellowshjp.     385 

ones  accepted  to  take  their  place.  Yeuerable  systems 
are  abolished,  and  ancient  customs  are  neglected  be- 
cause of  their  antiquity.  The  organic  laws  of  gov- 
ernment are  made  to  give  place  to  new  constitutions, 
and  old  statutes  are  constantly  being  repealed  or 
amended.  Is  all  this  real  or  imaginary  progress? 
It  is  real,  if  man  be  the  focal  point  for  all  this  mod- 
ern light.  If  the  changes  and  novelties  of  this  rest- 
less age  result  in  leading  him  to  a  loftier  plane,  from 
which  he  will  have  a  clearer  conception  of  his  duty 
and  his  destiny ;  if  they  be  constantly  bringing  him  into 
better  relations  with  his  fellow-men,  and  investing  him 
with  all  the  rights  God  gave  him ;  if  they  be  infusing 
into  his  soul  a  better  conception  of  the  dignity  and 
nobility  of  his  being,  and  inspiring  him  with  the 
high  purpose  to  fulfill  his  mission  in  life, — only  so  far 
as  they  accomplish  this  may  we  boast.  A  civilization 
that  does  not  do  this,  a  reform  that  does  not  reach 
man,  is  not  worthy  of  the  name. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  will  de- 
mand an  honorable  place  in  the  battle-line.  In  the 
thickest  of  the  fight  we  will  bear  our  banner  of 
"Friendship,  Love,  and  Truth,"  and  if  we  see  no 
flaming  words  in  the  skv,  as  did  Constantine  the 
Great,  we  will  move  forward  with  the  same  words  in 
our  hearts,  "By  this  sign  we  conquer." 

It  is  but  natural  in  such  work,  so  congenial  to 
her  taste  and  her  gentler  nature,  we  should  have  the 
earnest  co-operation  of  woman.  Woman,  first  at  the 
tomb  of  the  Savior  and  last  at  the  cross,  with  her 
loving  heart  has,  in  all  ages  and  times,  been  a  minis- 
tering angel  to  the  suffering.     In  our  Christian  civil- 

25 


886     The  Philosophy  of  Oddfellow  shw. 

izatiou,  where  her  merits  are  fully  recognized  and  all 
her  many  good  works  duly  appreciated,  she  has  a 
wider  sphere  for  usefulness.  We  are  cheered  to-day 
by  the  presence  of  the  Daughters  of  Rebekah.  To 
their  helping  hand  our  rapidly  growing  Order  is  in- 
debted for  its  increasing  usefulness.  Encouraged  by 
the  approving  smiles  of  our  sisters,  we  here  renew 
our  pledges  of  fidelity  to  our  sacred  trust,  and  enter 
on  another  year  with  renewed  zeal,  and  animated 
with  the  hope  that  we  may  be  instrumental  in 
hastening  the  coming  of  the  good  time  described  by 
Pollok: 

"Love  took  the  place  of  law;  where'er  you  met 
A  man,  you  met  a  frieiid,  eiucere  ar.d  true. 
Kind  words  foretold  as  kind  a  heart  within. 
Words  as  they  sounded  meant,  and  promises 
Were  made  to  be  performed.     Thrice  happy  days! 
Philosophy  was  sanctified,  and  saw 
Perfection,  that  she  thought  a  fable  long. 
Revenge  his  dagger  dropped,  and  kissed  the  hand 
Of  Mercy.     Pride  stooped  and  kissed  Humility. 

.     .     .     Falsehood  laid  aside 
Her  many-colored  cloak,  and  bowed  to  Truth ; 
And  Treachery  upward  from  his  mining  came, 
And  walked  above  the  ground  with  righteous  Faith; 
And  Covetousness  unclenched  his  sinewy  hands, 
And  oped  his  door  to  Charity." 


DECORATION-DAY. 

IT  IS  well  to  devote  one  day  at  least  in  the  year 
to  the  consideration  of  those  high  and  noble 
qualities  that  constitute  heroism.  The  decoration  of 
the  graves  of  the  men  Avho  fell  in  battle  and  those 
who  outlived  the  dangers  of  war,  but  have  since 
joined  their  fallen  comrades,  brings  closely  to  our 
thoughts  these  godlike  attributes  of  humanity. 

Heroism  has  a  broader  and  dee])er  meaning  than 
that  of  fearlessly  braving  danger  and  death.  Man's 
devotion  to  a  principle  that  he  conceives  to  be 
founded  in  truth  and  justice — a  principle  that,  ap- 
plied to  human  society,  promotes  the  general  good 
and  greatly  increases  the  sum  total  of  human  happi- 
ness— must  be  the  inspiring  cause  to  his  gallantry 
and  courage.  It  is  this  devotion  to  principle,  and 
not  the  indiiference  to  death,  that  makes  him  a  hero. 
AYhile  such  a  man  has  a  broader  view  of  life  than 
tlie  narrow  and  selfish  possibly  can  have,  and  con- 
sequently his  existence  has  more  significance  than 
that  of  others,  yet  he  is  willing  to  die,  if  need  be, 
tliat  the  truth  may  live. 

There  are  no  second-class  qualities  in  the  con- 
stituent elements  that  make  up  the  heroic.  Heroism 
gives  to  human  life  the  majesty  of  divinity  and  the 

Delivered  on  Decoratioii-day,  <>u  the  invitation  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  Post  of  Greensburg,  Tad. 

387 


8  8  8  Decora  tion-Da  y. 

charm  of  augelic  beauty,  because  the  man  comes  out 
of  himself  and  declares  for  the  promotion  of  the 
general  welfare,  even  if  he  has  to  become  a  martyr 
to  his  convictions.  Self-sacrifice  is  the  very  essence 
of  heroism  and  the  essential  quality  of  courage. 
Whether  in  war  or  in  peace,  we  honor  and  love  a 
self-sacrificing  spirit;  and  we  to-day  decorate  the 
grave  of  the  dead  soldier,  not  simply  because  of  his 
courage,  or  thankfulness  that  he  prevented  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Union  and  the  success  of  secession, 
but  because  he  exhibited  the  divine  trait  of  self- 
sacrifice,  the  highest  and  most  essential  element  of 
true  heroism. 

And  let  me  say  to  the  comrades  here  to-day,  who 
feel  the  burden  of  old  age  and  suffer  from  the  pains 
of  disease  contracted  in  the  service,  and,  in  addition, 
endure  the  constant  bitterness  that  comes  from  the 
pinchings  of  poverty, — let  me  say,  notwithstanding 
all  these  things,  you  have  a  rich  inheritance.  The 
man  of  wealth,  who  had  no  part  in  the  great  struggle, 
who  could  not  or  did  not  enlist  when  you  enlisted, 
but  became  rich  while  you  were  giving  all  for  your 
country,  would  now  give  all  his  wealth  if  he  could 
have  the  same  record  that  you  have  made.  If  you 
envy  him  liis  ease  and  comforts,  he  envies  you  more 
that  you  are  enrolled  among  the  heroes.  Man  is  njt 
rich  for  what  he  has,  but  for  what  he  is. 

Whatever,  then,  may  be  your  lot,  and  whatever 
of  adversity  may  be  your  portion,  do  not  depreciate 
the  great  fact  of  your  life,  that  when  the  Nation 
needed  men  you  had  the  heroism  to  be  a  man.  And 
if  you  have  no  landed  estate,  or  money,  or  stocks 


Decora  tion-Da  y.  389 

and  bunds  to  leave  your  children,  you  can  leave  them 
something  that  all  their  lives  they  will  regard  as  a 
far  richer  inheritance,  that  their  father  was  a  brave 
soldier — that  he  was  willing  to  die  that  his  country 
mio;ht  live.  The  old  Roman  said:  "God  likes  to 
see  if  your  hands  are  pure,  not  if  they  are  full." 

If  troubles  come  in  the  future  from  within  or  with- 
out, and  the  life  of  our  young  Nation  is  assailed 
from  any  quarter,  what  a  mighty  army  of  the  sons  of 
the  heroes  would  rise,  prompted  by  the  heroism  they 
inherited,  and  go  to  battle,  if  need  be,  and  make  a 
record  like  that  of  their  fathers !  Let  it  be  a  con- 
solation and  comfort — yea,  more,  a  daily  inspiring 
joy — that  you  have  widened  and  deepened  the  cur- 
rent of  American  patriotism,  and  not  only  saved  the 
country  from  the  great  peril  that  threatened  her  ex- 
istence thirty  years  ago,  but  you  have  infused  a 
spirit  into  American  citizenship  that  will  guide  and 
protect  the  American  Union    for  a  century  to  come. 

The  dogma,  born  of  despotism,  and  sustained  by 
selfishness  and  upheld  by  greed  and  gain,  that  one 
man  has  the  right  to  buy  or  sell  another  man,  and 
appropriate  his  toil,  and  make  chattels  of  his  wife 
and  children,  was  shot  to  death  by  the  Union  soldier, 
and  buried  out  of  sight  when  victory  came — buried 
to  know  no  resurrection — and  the  bright  sun  of  a 
newer  and  brighter  and  better  civilization  rose  upon 
us  after  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 

When  years  and  centuries  have  come  and  gone, 
it  will  be  said  of  you,  my  comrades,  by  the  faithful 
historian,  that  to  you  is  the  meed  of  honor  to  be 
given.     It  will  be  the  pride  of  coming  generations  to 


390  Decora  tign-Da  y. 

trace  back  their  lineage  to  the  very  men  whom  I 
have  the  honor  to  address  to-day.  Let  no  soldier 
complain ;  let  no  Grand  Army  man  depreciate  his 
proud  position,  whatever  may  be  the  ills  or  misfor- 
tunes that  may  beset  him  ;  let  what  he  has  done  for 
his  country,  for  liberty,  for  humanity,  be  a  con- 
stant source  of  joy  ^  and  let  the  consciousness  of  hav- 
ing done  his  duty  cheer  his  heart  in  the  darkest  days 
of  adversity. 

A  whole  generation  has  been  born  and  are  now 
citizens  since  you  enlisted.  They  honor  and  revere 
your  fidelity  and  your  self-sacrifice.  Those  still  liv- 
ing who  were,  not  active  participants  with  you  in 
the  great  struggle  at  tlie  front,  yet  who  know  so  well 
the  uncertainties  and  anxieties  of  the  great  conflict — 
they  honor  you  still  more,  and  the  Government  has 
opened  wide  her  treasury  and  is  doing  more  than  any 
other  Nation  in  the  world  to  show  the  full  appreci- 
ation of,  not  only  her  brave  defenders  who  survive, 
but  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  fell  in 
battle  or  have  since  died  from  the  hard  service  in  the 
field  or  camp.  And  while  their  compensation  may 
not  be  equal  in  all  cases,  while  too  much  may  be  paid 
in  some  cases  and  not  enough  io  others,  yet  all  good 
soldiers  will  give  their  country  the  credit  of  aiming  to 
be  just  and  impartial  in  her  bounties.  It  is  not  the 
fault  of  the  law  that  injustice  is  done;  but  the  im- 
possibility of  making  a  law,  that  is  general  in  its  ap- 
plication, meet  equally  and  fairly  in  individual  cases. 

But  this  is  not  the  time  nor  the  occasion  for  the 
discussion  of  these  things.  We  have  met  to-day  to 
honor  the  dead,  to  cast  upon  their  last  resting-place 


Decora  iiox-Da  v.  39 1 

the  fresh,  bright  May  flowers  as  an  earnest  of  our  ap- 
preciation of  what  they  have  done  for  us,  and  en- 
kindle anew  in  our  hearts  the  flames  of  patriotic  de- 
votion to  our  young  Republic.  The  impulse  that 
prompts  the  assemblage  of  this  great  multitude  comes 
from  our  higher  and  nobler  nature.  It  is  the  divinity 
that  stirs  within  us.  By  the  observance  of  this  day, 
and  the  performance  of  these  sad  ceremonies,  we 
magnify  our  humanity  and  do  honor  to  our  manhood. 
The  moldering  bodies  of  the  dead  heroes,  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  narrow  earthen  houses  that  we  cover 
with  the  beautiful  flowers  of  this  smiling  month  of 
May,  are  all  unconscious  of  our  words  of  praise  and 
eulogy  and  tender  deeds  of  remembrance.  We  are 
powerless  to  make  these  dead  ears  hear  again.  Whether 
their  spirits  take  cognizance  of  what  we  are  so  lov- 
ingly doing  we  know  not — we  hope  it  may  be  so; 
but  of  this  we  are  well  assured,  that  we  awake  the 
best  purposes  in  the  souls  of  the  living.  The  flowers 
Ave  have  strewn  on  their  graves  will  soon  disappear; 
but  the  spirit  of  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  that 
comes  welling  up  in  our  hearts  will  make  us  nobler 
all  our  lives.  The  flowers  that  we  give  to  the  dead 
in  the  morning,  perish  and  are  gone  in  the  evening; 
but  in  their  stead  come  in  the  hearts  of  those  who 
gave  them  the  perennial  plants  of  a  deeper  revei-ence 
for  the  Ruler  and  Maker  of  us  all — a  nobler  and 
loftier  patriotism,  a  warmer  love,  and  a  more  tolerant 
spirit  for  our  fellow-men.  For  this  we  left  behind 
our  personal  cares  and  conflicts,  our  greed  for  gain, 
our  buying  and  selling,  our  selfishness  and  sordid 
aims,  our  political  strifes  and  religious  differences. 


892  Decoration-Day. 

While  these  flowers  keep  green  and  fresh  our  re- 
membrance of  the  dead,  they  are,  at  the  same  time, 
educators  of  the  living.  We  catch  the  noble  spirit 
that  animated  the  departed  ones,  and  go  hence  bet- 
ter soldiers  in  the  battle  of  life,  more  generous 
towards  each  other,  and  more  self-sacrificing  for  the 
good  of  the  whole  family  of  man. 

This  oneness  of  purpose,  this  unity  of  sympa- 
thy and  feeling,  when  the  occasion  that  brings  it 
about  is  noble  and  elevating,  goes  a  long  way 
towards  breaking  down  the  walls  of  separation  that 
divide  man  from  his  fellows.  It  so  warms  up  our 
hearts  that  the  senseless,  impracticable  theories  and 
foolish  dogmas  which  only  produce  strife  and  di- 
vision, lose  their  power,  and  never  fully  regain  it. 
Prejudices,  often  unfounded  and  bitter,  can  not  exist 
in  hearts  moved  by  a  common  sympathy  ;  and  the 
silken  chord  that  this  day  brings  us  nearer  together 
will  leave  us  in  closer  relations  than  it  found  us. 

The  proverb-writer  says  that  "  it  is  better  to  go 
to  the  house  of  mourning  than  feasting."  While  we 
beautify  the  grave  of  the  hero  with  fresh  flowers, 
and  for  even  a  day  cause  delicious  odors  to  float 
around  his  last  resting-place,  does  not  the  very  act  of 
the  kind  hands  that  bring  these  sweet  tokens,  and 
the  motive  that  prompts  it,  so  beautify  the  life  and 
character  of  the  actor  that  the  sweet  incense  of  a 
nobler  charity  goes  out  from  the  heart  forever  after- 
Avard?  Every  age  has  its  martyrs  and  heroes.  The 
sacrificial  offerings  of  these  noble  spirits  seem  to  be 
essential  to  the  elevation  of  the  race. 

When  we  follow  the  Savior  as  he    went   among 


Decora  tion-Da  y.  393 

men  we  are  charmed  and  astonished  at  his  grand 
utterances  in  that  wonderful  Sermon  on  the  Mount ; 
we  love  and  adore  iiim  as  he  goes  among  the  poor 
and  the  sick,  and  comforts  and  heals  them  ;  but 
when  we  behold  him  dying  on  Calvary  for  his  prin- 
ciples and  to  promote  human  salvation,'  we  tenderly 
and  humbly  bow  our  heads,  and  confess  the  divinity 
of  his  mission.  So  stubbornly  does  the  human  race 
resist  progress,  it  seems  that  the  corner-stone  of 
every  temple  of  civilization  must  be  builded  on  the 
bones  of  its  martyred  founder.  This  has  been  the 
history  of  the  race  from  Calvary  until  now.  The 
martyrs  did  not  die  in  vain.  We  can  recall  no  period 
where  great  human  rights  have  been  wrested  from 
the  grip  of  tyrants,  and  where  man  has  regained 
what  God  gave  him,  that  the  recovered  gifts  have 
not  been  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  hero  and  mar- 
tyr. The  records  of  huuian  progress  and  civilization 
confirm  the  truth  of  this  statement.  All  the  past  so 
speaks  to  us.  Whether  it  will  be  so  in  all  the  future, 
we  can  only  speculate.  But  this  we  can  confidently 
assert,  that  the  martyr-spirits  of  every  age  will  call 
out  the  best  affection  and  reverence  of  those  who 
survive  them  ;  and,  if  not  with  flowers,  in  some  way 
they  will  gather  around  their  graves,  and  testify  to 
their  high  a})preciatiou  of  the  value  to  humanity  of 
their  noble  lives  and  grander  deaths. 

Let  us  not  then,  on  this  occasion,  confine  our 
contemplation  to  the  death  of  the  soldier,  but  let  us 
consider  his  life  as  well.  Let  us  remember,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  his  soldier-life,  the  sad  j)artiug  with  wife 
and  children,  with   father  and    mother,  with   brother 


394  Decora  tion-Da  y. 

and  sister  ;  the  bitter  separation  from  her  whom  love 
has  associated  with  all  his  plans  of  happiness  for  the  fu- 
ture that  love  and  hope  have  painted  so  rosy  and  bright. 
The  exchange  from  the  sweet  liberty  of  home,  the 
kindness  of  those  who  love  him,  for  the  harsh  'and 
unsympathetic  commands  of  his  superior  officer,  is  the 
first  crucial  test  of  his  patience.  The  terrible  leveling 
process,  that  places  the  virtuons,  refined,  and  cultured 
soldier  in  the  same  mess,  and  in  constant  contact 
with  the  depraved  and  ignorant ;  the  dreadful  mili- 
tary necessity  that,  in  the  suppression  of  the  good 
sense  of  the  private  soldier,  under  military  law,  re- 
quires absolute  obedience  and  submission  to  the  in- 
ferior mind;  the  long  dinnerless  and  supperless 
marches,  and  the  weary  and  anxious  nights  on  the 
picket,  a  target  for  the  enemy, — I  need  not  dwell 
upon  here.  Many  before  me  in  this  audience  have 
now  in  their  minds  a  thousand  memories  that  make  a 
picture  far  more  vivid  than  any  poor  words  of  mine 
can  paint.  The  lesson  that  we  learn  is,  that  from  the 
time  the  soldier  shoulders  his  musket  until  he  falls 
in  battle,  his  whole  life  is  heroic.  It  requires  the 
same  heroism  to  do  the  daily  duties  of  the  soldier 
cheerfully  as  it  does  to  march  up  to  the  enemy's  guns 
amid  the  iron  hail  of  death.  If  doing  honor  to  the 
dead  soldier  excites  within  us  the  self-sacrificing 
spirit  of  the  martyr,  let  not  his  life  fail  to  make  its 
impressive  lesson  on  us  as  well. 

This  life  of  ours  is  a  battle.  Within  us  are  fierce, 
contending  passions,  that  must  be  conquered  and 
made  obedient  to  the  law  of  justice  and  right.  Over 
them  we  must  hold  the  mastery.     Our  social  and  po- 


Decora  tion-Da  y.  395 

Htical  life  does  not  always  result  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  but  the  survival  of  the  worst,  compelling  us  to 
be  submissive  and  bide  our  time.  A  large  stock  of  pa- 
tience must  be  had  all  the  time,  to  act  as  an  emollient  to 
keep  down  the  inflammation  and  irritation  constantly 
produced  by  the  little  annoyances  that  seem  insepa- 
rably connected  with  our  existence.  Is  it  not  true  that 
the  heroic  lives  of  our  soldiers  inspire  the  living  with 
more  courage,  a  deeper  reverence  for  law  and  order, 
and  a  more  patient  endurance  of  the  ills  of  human  life  ? 
In  every  aspect  of  the  occasion,  the  day  is  well  spent. 
It  is  due  the  soldier  and  the  cause  for  which  he  died 
that  we  should  decorate  his  grave,  and  keep  fresh  and 
green  our  memory  of  his  life  and  death.  It  is  due  the 
living  that  one  day  of  the  year  should  be  set  apart  to 
the  contemplation  of  the  high  cpialities  that  make  life 
heroic.  It  is  not  the  mere  physical  courage  or  the 
self-sacrifice  of  these  brave  men  that  reaches  our 
hearts  and  aflPects  our  lives.  AVhen  we  pass  the 
grave  of  the  man  who  died  in  the  contest  to  establish 
the  fact  that  he  had  the  best  physical  development, 
and  was  thereby  entitled  to  wear  the  belt  as  the 
champion  prize-fighter  of  the  Avorld ;  when  we  read 
of  the  romantic  and  shallow  sentimentalism  that 
prompted  a  brave  and  gallant  knight  to  lay  down 
his  life  to  prove  that  his  lady-love  was  more  charm- 
ing than  that  of  his  antagonist ;  when,  in  turning  the 
pages  of  ancient  and  modern  history,  we  read  of  the 
countless  number  who  have  been  compelled  to  go  to 
battle  at  the  command  of  some  despot  to  increase  the 
area  of  his  tyranny,  or  to  rob,  pillage,  and  enslave 
the  people  of  a  weak  neighboring  province, — we  have 


396  Decoratioa-Dav. 

no  such  sublimo  feelings  as  we  have  to-day  around 
the  graves  of  our  own  heroes.  The  godlike  motive 
that  prompted  them  to  make  the  sacrifioe  is  the  in- 
spiring cause  of  our  love  and  admiration. 

These  men  believed,  as  \ve  believe,  that  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  American  Union,  the  erection  of  a  rival 
Government  on  the  soil  where  our  Revolutionary 
fathers  established  but  one,  would,  in  the  end,  result 
in  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of  the.  principles  of 
free  and  representative  government;  that  our  fathers 
made  the  American  Union  the  custodian  of  the  price- 
less jewels  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  dis- 
solution of  the  one  meant  the  possible  destruction  of 
the  other;  that  to  maintain  the  proposition  that  man 
could  govern  himself  without  the  intervention  of  the 
kings,  the  very  Government  made  by  the  patriots  of 
the  Revolution  for  that  high  and  holy  purpose  should 
not  be  rent  asunder  by  secession  and  resistance  to  its 
supreme  authority.  These  men  fought,  bled,  and  died 
rather  than  trust  to  the  experiment  of  risking  the 
preservation  of  these  precious  rights  to  the  scattered 
fragments  of  a  broken  Union.  To  them  the  old  starry 
flag,  baptized  with  the  blood  of  our  noble  sires,  was  a 
banner  of  beauty.  They  followed  it  in  the  storm  of 
battle  and  in  the  smoke  of  deadly  conflict  because  it 
was  tlie  symbol  of  a  Government  where  all  men  were 
free  and  all  men  were  equal.  It  was  for  such  a  Gov- 
ernment that  our  fathers  went  to  battle.  It  was  for 
such  a  Government  that  their  sons,  our  brothers, 
whose  graves  we  decorate  to-day,  gave  up  their  lives, 
and  are  numbered  by  the  thousands  in  this  beautiful 
cemetery.    They  died  to  make  perpetual  and  enduring 


Decora  tiox-Da  v.  397 

the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  forged  and  shaped 
for  freemen  in  the  fire  and  flame  of  the  Revohition  of 
1776.  The  high  and  holy  trust  imposed  upon  us  and 
our  children  is  to  keep  and  maintain  that  which 
our  fathers  and  brothers  died  to  save.  Neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  would  have  shouldered  the  musket 
or  borne  a  sword  to  establish  or  maintain  a  Govern- 
ment that  would  not  stand  as  guardian  for  the  rights 
of  the  humblest  citizen. 

They  fought  for  a  free  ballot,  and  an  honest  count 
of  the  ballot  when  cast,  that  bloody  and  despotic  in- 
timidation should  not  deter  the  voter,  and  that  the 
filthy  fingers  of  fraud  should  not  touch  his  ballot 
when  deposited.  They  died  that  the  blessings  of  a 
Gov^ernment  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people  might,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  descend  on  all 
alike,  and  not  that  it  should  be  used  as  a  wicked  in- 
strument in  the  hands  of  corrupt  rings  to  make  the 
rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  They  battled  for 
solid  principle,  and  not  «for  the  empty  and  mean- 
ingless declarations  of  mere  party  platforms.  They 
elevated  single-purposed  patriotism  far  above  double- 
faced  partisanship.  They  had  a  higher  conception  of 
politics  than  that  it  is  a  mere  game  by  which  a  host  of 
hungry  politicians  are  to  secure  places  where  they  can 
grow  fat  and  flourish  at  the  public  expense  on  un- 
earned salaries.  Such  was  the  spirit  and  purpose  of 
our  noble  sires  in  their  contest  with  Great  Britain. 

The  patriots  of  this  generation,  when  the  day  of 
trial  came,  when  the  dissolution  of  the  American 
Union  or  the  dread  realities  of  civil  war  presented 
themselves,  did  not  hesitate,  but  rushed  to  the  con- 


398  Decora  tiox-Da  v. 

flict  by  the  millions;  when  defeat  and  disaster  came, 
they,  like  the  fathers,  closed  up  the  ranks  and  re- 
newed the  battle,  and,  like  them,  fought  on  for  years 
until  they  gained  the  victory.  It  was  glorious  to 
build  such  a  Government;  it  was  no  less  glorious  to 
defend  and  uphold  it.  The  patriot  son  ought  to  be 
given,  by  all  who  now  live  and  by  the  generations 
which  come  after  us,  the  same  honorable  place  in  his- 
tory as  the  grand  Revolutionary  father.  Side  by  side 
let  them  stand  on  the  grand  monument  that  their 
own  achievements  have  built  for  them,  equal  in  pa- 
triotism, equal  in  self-sacrifice,  commanding  from 
mankind  equal  gratitude  and  homage.  Let  both 
alike  be  guides  to  us  and  our  children.  Let  the  glo- 
rious deeds  of  both  give  a  double  assurance  to  our 
hope  that,  come  what  may,  the  American  Union  will 
ever  stand.  As  we  contemplate  their  glorious  work, 
let  us  be  cheered  with  the  belief  that  the  same  patri- 
otism that  brought  this  good  Government  into  exist- 
ence, and  has  kept  and  gujy-ded  it  amid  the  surging 
billows  of  secession  and  rebellion,  will  not  be  want- 
ing when  other  dangers  come  in  the  future. 

Having  such  noble  men  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
our  Republic,  and  having  those  no  less  worthy  to  de- 
fend and  protect  the  blessings  of  freedom  ;  looking  at 
the  blood  and  treasure  that  has  been  spilled  at  both 
periods,  and  the  intense  agony  and  self-sacrifice  at- 
tending each  crisis  of  our  Nation's  history,  we  would 
be  recreant  to  our  trust  if  we  did  not  look  without 
fear  or  flinching  at  all  the  dangers  that  seem  yet  to 
threaten  the  life  of  the  Nation.  Not  only  should  we 
boldly  look  at  these  dangers,  but,  with  the  same  spirit 


Decora  tion-D.  w.  399 

that  animated  those  who  died  for  us  in  both  wars,  we 
should  brave  all  danger,  and  put  aside  all  selfish  ends 
to  remove  them. 

Peace  has  her  triumphs  as  well  as  war.  It  will 
be  better  for  us  to  remember  that,  for  more  than  half 
a  century  before  the  Revolution,  our  fathers  gave 
great  importance  to  the  faithful  and  thorough  educa- 
tion of  their  children.  They  not  only  tau{/hf.  the 
natural  sciences  and  the  science  of  governm/>it^  but 
tlie  lessons  of  morality  and  religion  were  detvly  im- 
pressed on  their  minds.  The  private  soldiers  who 
followed  Washington,  and  suffered  with  him  all  the 
privations  of  the  Revolution,  were  not  an  ignorant 
and  brutal  soldiery,  thirsting  for  revenge  and  the 
blood  of  their  enemies,  but,  for  the  most  [Kirt,  were 
men  of  such  broad  culture  and  such  lofty  conceptions 
of  human  ricrhts  as  to  make  them  invincible.  The 
common  soldiers  of  the  American  army  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  outranked,  in  their  education,  mjit 
of  the  lords  and  nobles  of  England.  Had  the  kiflg 
and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  taken  the  trouble  to 
inform  themselves  as  to  the  real  character  of  the  Col- 
onists, they  would  never  have  been  guilty  of  the  folly 
of  attempting  to  conquer  them.  William  Pitt  was 
the  only  man  who  comprehended  the  situation,  and 
he  boldly  told  them  the  truth ;  but  they  would  not 
believe  him.  Had  not  the  men  of  1776  been  men  of 
thought  and  culture — men  whose  hearts  had  been 
made  strong  and  pure  by  the  inculcation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  morality  and  religion,  thus  doubling  their 
power — they  Mould  have  failed  to  meet  the  demands 
of  their  time. 


400  Decora  tion-Da  y. 

The  founclation-stoues  of  this  republicau  Govern- 
ment are  intelligence  and  virtue.  This  has  been  the 
foundation  from  the  first,  and  is  now.  On  these  the 
pillars  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  will  remain  un- 
shaken amid  all  the  storms  and  conflicts  incident  to 
human  government.  They  are  the  cohesive  powers 
that  bind  the  people  and  States  together,  on  the  one 
hand  resisting  tyranny  and  oppression,  and  on  the 
other  warding  off*  the  evils  of  anarchy  and  lawless- 
ness. Where  there  is  such  a  general  dissemination  of 
intelligence  and  virtue  among  the  people,  the  happy 
medium  in  government  is  found,  which  results  in  pro- 
tection to  person  and  property  without  infringing  on 
the  God-given  rights  of  any.  That  a  free  govern- 
ment can  stand  on  no  other  foundation,  the  history  of 
the  world  abundantly  proves. 

With  a  wide  and  extended  suffrage,  our  danger  is 
the  existence  of  vice  and  ignorance  among  the  peojile. 
Mexico,  with  her  ignorant  population,  is  an  example 
in  point.  She  has  made  the  attempt,  time  and  again, 
to  establish  a  free  government.  She  has  not  now, 
nor  has  she  had  for  half  a  century,  a  permanent  gov- 
ernment. The  dark  and  bloody  waves  of  rebellion 
and  revolution  sweep,  year  after  year^  over  the  face  of 
her  fertile  plains,  and  carry  away  the  resources  of  her 
people,  and  debauch  and  demoralize  the  already  de- 
graded masses  of  men.  The  common  people,  too 
ignorant  and  degraded  to  know  their  rights,  are  but 
tools  in  the  hands  of  military  leaders  and  political 
adventurers.  In  many  places  in  Mexico,  at  all  times, 
there  is  no  government,  no  protection,  no  law,  no  lib- 
erty, no  order.     In  place  of  all  these  are  the  horrors 


Decora  t ion- Da  y.  401 

of  disorder,  lawlessness,  and  anarchy.  Such  has  been 
the  history  of  Mexico  for  years,  and  so  it  will  con- 
tinue to  be  until  religion  and  civilization  shall  be 
diffused  among  the  people.  Spain  attempted  to  found 
a  republic,  but  failed  for  the  reason  that  the  common 
people  had  not  the  necessary  virtue  and  intelligence 
to  maintain  it. 

If  we  be  patriots,  worthy  of  our  honored  fathers 
and  fallen  brothers  and  the  rich  inheritance  the  one 
gave  us  and  the  other  defended,  we  must  make  war 
on  ignorance  and  vice ;  we  must,  individually  and 
collectively,  do  all  within  our  power  to  enlighten 
the  minds  and  purify  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  to 
have  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  to  be  invested  with 
sovereign  power  in  the  future.  When  we  shall  have 
enlightened  and  purified  the  American  mind  and 
heart,  then  that  vilest  of  all  creatures,  that  has  ever 
been  the  greatest  enemy  and  curse  of  our  free  gov- 
ernment, the  demagogue,  will  hide  his  face  in  shame, 
and  be  driven  by  an  enlightened  and  elevated  public 
opinion  to  conceal  himself  in  obscurity.  His  poison- 
ous breath  will  no  longer  pollute  our  politics,  and 
his  false  tongue  will  cease  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord 
and  discontent  among  the  people. 

It  is  not  the  existence  of  the  demagogue  that 
needs  create  alarm.  It  is  the  circumstance  of  igno- 
rance and  depravity  that  makes  his  existence  a  pos- 
sibility. No  politician  would  be  bold  enough  to 
attempt  to  array  capital  against  labor,  and  labor 
against  capital,  and  put  these  dependencies  at  war 
with  each  other,  if  he  knew  that  a  large  majority  of 

the  people  whom  he  addressed  had  sufficient  intelli- 

26 


402  Decora  tio.\  -Da  y. 

gence  to  expose  his  falsehood,  and  the  virtue  and 
independence  to  condemn  it.  The  true  statesman 
would  not  halt  and  hesitate  in  telling  the  voters  the 
real  truth  and  the  whole  truth,  uumixed  with  sophis- 
try, if  he  felt  assured  that  they  would  comprehend 
and  appreciate  it.  The  political  parties  would  not 
proclaim  platforms  and  principles  that,  like  the  Del- 
phic oracles,  may  mean  one  thing  or  another,  to 
catch  the  voters  of  all  shades  of  opinion  and  preju- 
dice, if  we,  the  people,  had  a  higher  degree  of  intel- 
ligence and  a  keener  sense  of  honor  in  our  voting 
population.  No  political  organization  would  have 
power  enough  to  hold  the  voter  to  the  support  of 
men  of  notorious  bad  character,  and  push  them 
through  to  success  by  the  aid  of  party  machinery. 
AVe  have  abundant  evidence  on  every  hand  of  the 
existence  of  this  great  danger;  and  he  is  not  worthy 
the  high  distinction  of  being  an  American  citizen 
who  will  not  do  all  in  his  power  to  aid  in  the  eleva- 
tion, enlightenment,  and  purification  of  the  American 
character. 

President  Washington,  in  his  Farewell  Address 
to  the  American  people,  says:  "Of  all  the  dispo- 
sitions and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity, 
religion  and  morality  are  iudespensable  supports. 
In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriot- 
ism who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars, 
these  foremost  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and 
citizens." 

Another  danger  that  stands  in  the  way  of  the 
elevation  of  the  character  of  the  American  citizen, 
and    unfits    him   for    the    rightful    discharge   of    his 


Decora  t ion-Da  y.  403 

duties  as  such,  is  the  mercenary  spirit  that  has 
stolen  into  his  life.  The  mere  accumulation  of 
wealth  has  become  too  much  the  chief  aim  of  the 
American  citizen,  and  to  this  base  use  is  he  prosti- 
tuting his  soul,  mind,  and  strength.  This  mercenary 
spirit  has  been  begotten  by  our  inordinate  desire 
for  riches,  and  is  a  reproach  to  our  religion,  and  a 
blot  on  our  civilization. 

Comrades,  we  can  scarcely  realize  the  fact,  yet  it 
is  true,  that  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  gone 
since  you  took  arms  to  save  your  country.  Almost 
a  whole  generation  are  now  voters  who  were  un- 
born when  secession  and  rebellion  called  you  to  the 
front  to  preserve  the  Union  and  compel  obedience  to 
her  authority. 

Comrades,  as  we,  when  children,  used  to  gather 
around  the  white-haired  Revolutionary  sire,  and  hear 
of  his  participation  in  that  great  struggle,  and  the 
trials  and  sacrifices  then  made  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  the  American  Republic,  so  will  the  children 
of  this  new  generation,  as  the  years  come  and  go, 
gather  around  you,  and  listen  with  the  same  interest 
to  the  many  incidents  and  sacrifices  made  by  you  in 
your  patriotic  and  successful  efltbrt  to  keep  what 
our  Revolutionary  fathers  had  given  us.  You  who 
entered  the  army  in  the  full  strength  and  vigor  of 
middle  life  and  are  now  old  men,  and  you. who  were, 
in  1861,  just  entering  your  manhood,  fired  with  the 
ardor  of  youth  and  enthusiasm,  are  ali'eady  prema- 
turely aged  from  the  hard  service  of  army  life. 
Year  after  year,  as  you  gather  around  the  graves  of 
fallen  comrades,  you  will  find  new  and  fresh  mouu'"* 


404  Decora  tion-Da  y. 

to  decorate,  and  fewer  and  feebler  hands  to  assist 
yon.  And  when  the  time  does  come  when  the  last 
soldier  calls  the  mnster-roll,  and  there  is  none  left 
to  respond,  no  elbow  to  touch,  and  no  soldier-step 
by  your  side,  and  when  you  shall  take  your  place 
with  your  comrades,  your  sons  and  dant^hters  will 
come  with  the  brightest  flowers,  and  after  them 
their  children,  generation  after  generation,  to  attest 
your  fidelity  to  the  American  Union.  The  little 
hillocks  that  mark  the  resting-places  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  with  all  their  silent  and 
solemn  surroundings,  will  be  as  shrines  where  devo- 
tion to  country,  self-sacrifice,  and  all  those  high  and 
noble  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  the  true  soldier, 
will  be  instilled  into  the  hearts  of  the  coming  gen- 
erations. A  higher,  nobler,  and  law-abiding  citizen- 
ship in  time  of  peace,  a  better  and  braver  soldiery  in 
time  of  war,  and  a  jjerpetual  Union  of  the  States — 
the  only  protecting  segis  of  human  liberty — will  be 
some  of  the  results  of  the  grand  soldier  record  you 
have  left  behind  you. 

Shakespeare  has  Mark  Antony  say  over  the  dead 
body  of  Csesar: 

"The  evil  that  men  do  hves  after  them; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." 

This  is  the  oft-quoted  proverb  of  the  Bard  of  Avon, 

and  is  accepted  as  true.     It  is  meant  that  evil  is  a 

positive  force,  going  on  forever,  and  that  virtue  and 

courage  perish  with  their  possessor,  or  soon  after  he 

ceases  to  exist.     I  reject  the  proverb  as  false.     The 

converse  is  nearer  the  truth.     The  good  influences 

that  brave    men   exert  never  die.     The  courage,  the 


Decora  ti  ox-Da  y.  405 

self-sacrifice,  the  broad  and  exalted  patriotism  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  will  be  silent  yet 
potent  forces  that  will  nerve  the  hearts  of  all  coming 
generations  to  rally  to  the  Nation's  standard  when- 
ever the  honor  or  the  life  of  the  Nation  is  a^^jailed. 

"  Is  this  the  land  our  fathers  loved, 

The  freedom  which  they  fought  to  win? 
Is  this  the  soil  they  trod  upon  ? 

Are  these  the  graves  they  slumber  in  ? 
Are  we  their  sons,  by  whom  are  borne 
The  mantles  whith  the  dead  have  worn? 
And  shall  we  crouch  above  their  graves. 

With  craven  soul  and  fettered  lip. 
Yoked  in  with  marked  and  branded  slavet,. 

And  tremble  at  a  master's  whip  ? 
By  their  enlarging  souls,  which  burst 

The  bands  and  fetters  round  them  set , 
By  the  free  pilgrim  spirit  nursed 

Within  our  inmost  bosom  yet, — 
By  all  around,  above,  below, 
Be  ours  the  eternal  answer — No !" 


DOMESTIC  SANITATION. 

THE  importance  of  the  subject  we  have  met  to 
consider  can  not  be  overestimated.  Perfect 
health  is  the  choicest  blessing  given  to  man.  How 
to  secure  it,  and  how  to  retain  it,  are  the  most  im- 
portant questions  ever  presented  to  the  human  mind. 
Health  is  the  foundation  principle  upon  which  rest 
all  our  hopes,  our  happiness,  our  success,  our  every- 
thing in  life.  Sucli  are  the  intimate  and  mysterious 
relations  between  the  human  body  and  the  human 
mind  that  when  the  f(n'mer  is  diseased,  the  latter  is 
in  like  manner  disordered.  Hope,  happiness,  and 
often  reason,  flee  when  the  body  is  diseased,  and  the 
invalid  becomes  a  burden  to  himself  and  a  source  of 
trouble  and  anxiety  to  all  interested  in  him. 

Disease  is  the  penalty  for  violated  law.  If  the 
human  race  would  study  the  laws  of  hygiene,  and 
would  try  to  know  the  mysteries  of  their  own  being, 
and  faithfully  observe  what  is  required^  the  roses  of 
health  would  adorn  every  cheek  and  the  light  of 
hope  and  joy  would  flash  from  every  eye.  The  brain, 
now  clouded  and  befogged,  would  be  clear,  and  an 
impetus  would  be  given  to  progress  and  civilization 
that  would  disclose  how,  in  its  pitiless  fetters,  disease 
binds  and  holds  back  the  energies  of  the  human  race. 
Mental   and  physical  weakness    would  not  begin  at 


Delivered  before  a  Sanitary  Convention  at  Greensburg,  Ind. 
406 


Domestic  Sanitation.  407 

threescore  years,  but  a  whole  century  would  be  re- 
quired to  exhaust  the  poMcr  and  usefulness  of  the 
improved  man.  He  would  not  only  double  his  power 
and  happiness,  but  he  would  also  double  the  years 
of  his  life.  The  riper  and  richer  experiences  of  his 
life,  now  lost,  would  be  an  incalculable  benefit  to  the 
world.  Men  die  now  just  as  their  lives  begin  to  be 
of  the  most  value  to  mankind.  It  takes  a  man  a 
half  a  century,  even  if  he  is  blessed  with  health,  to 
know  himself  and  his  fellow-men.  In  no  less  time 
can  he  gain  even  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  du- 
ties and  obligations  growing  out  of  the  relations  ex- 
isting between  him  and  them.  Even  if  he  is  not 
hindered  and  fettered  with  disease,  he  can  not  know 
how  to  meet  all  that  is  due  to  his  God,  his  country,  and 
his  fellow-men  until  twoscore  or  more  of  years  have 
steadied  the  impetuosity  of  his  youth,  and  reason  and 
experience  have  cooled  the  fervor  of  his  hope  and 
imagination,  and  so  trained  his  judgment  as  to  show 
him  how  he  can  best  fulfill  his  mission  in  life.  The 
human  race,  inheriting  the  seeds  of  disease,  and  then 
disobeying  the  laws  for  the  preservation  of  health, 
die  just  as  they  ought  to  be  at  the  prime  of  life. 

If  the  present  generation  were  to  begin  now  to 
study  and  faithfully  to  practice  the  laws  of  hygiene, 
while  they  could  greatly  improve  their  condition  in 
every  way,  they  would  still  have  to  combat  the  ills 
they  have  inherited.  It  would  take  two  or  three 
generations  to  eliminate  the  diseases  that  are  heredi- 
tary ;  but  it  could  be  done.  Nature,  the  great  phy- 
sician, is  constantly  struggling  to  expel  the  diseases 
that  are  born    with  us,  and  if  she   were  re-enforced 


408  Domestic  Sanitatiojv. 

with  a  life  obedient  to  the  laws  of  health,  she  would 
iu  the  end  succeed  in  expelling  from  the  human 
body  all  the  diseases  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  It  seems 
strange  that  an  effort  has  to  be  made  to  create  in  the 
public  mind  an  interest  in  a  subject  of  such,  vital  im- 
portance to  each  individual.  It  is  a  matter  of  aston- 
ishment that  we  are  so  ignorant  of  the  rules  and  reg- 
ulations, the  observance  of  which  would  add  so  much 
to  our  comfort  and  our  power.  Even  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  food  we  ought  to  eat,  the  hours  of 
sleep  we  require,  the  kind  of  clothing  we  should 
wear,  and  the  amount  of  labor  we  can  perform,  man- 
ual or  mental,  are  matters  of  which  most  of  us  know 
but  little,  and,  stranger  still,  we  care  less.  We  con- 
stantly violate  the  laws  of  health,  and  groan  and 
complain  when  the  penalty  is  inflicted,  as  it  surely 
will  be.  In  this  department  there  is  no  forgiveness 
of  sin,  yet  the  certain  and  speedy  infliction  of  the 
dreaded  penalty  does  not  produce  reformation. 

In  the  country  the  farmer  will  breathe  malaria 
from  a  pestilence-breeding  pond  year  after  year  until 
his  whole  system  is  poisoned.  He  aches  with  the 
chills  and  is  scorched  with  the  fever,  and  has  added 
neuralgia  to  complete  his  misery,  yet  he  rarely  in- 
quires as  to  the  cause  of  his  ill-health  ;  and  if  he 
knows,  he  will  not  spend  a  day  to  remove  the  source 
of  his  trouble  by  draining  the  pond.  In  the  towns 
and  cities  dwellings  are  crowded  together,  and  the 
garbage  and  the  slops  from  the  houses  are  thrown  iu 
the  streets  and  alleys,  and  from  the  rotting  mass 
comes  the  deadly  typhus  or  the  pestilence  that  walk- 
eth  in  darkness  to  kill  and  destroy  the  people.     Cen- 


Domestic  Sanitation.  409 

turies  came  and  went  before  any  steps  were  taken  to 
avoid  such  a  calamity. 

Tiie  preservation  of  the  public  health  everywhere 
is  a  proper  subject  of  legislation.  The  public  mind 
is  becoming  more  and  more  awakened  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  laws  are  being  enacted  that  will  to  some 
extent  remedy  the  evils  that  have  so  unnecessarily 
afflicted  the  human  race.  But  to  make  legislation 
effectual  to  remedy  any  evil,  there  must  be  an  enlight- 
ened public  sentiment  in  regard  to  it.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  in  all  our  common  schools  the 
laws  of  health  should  be  taught,  and  no  teacher  ought 
to  have  a  certificate  as  a  teacher  who  could  not  pass  a 
thorough  examination  on  this  branch  of  education. 

It  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  evil  that  can  be 
reached  by  law.  You  can  not  prevent  gluttony  by 
law,  nor  can  you  by  law  compel  bathing.  The 
children  must  be  taught  the  importance  of  absti- 
nence and  the  necessity  of  cleanliness,  so  that  they 
will  voluntarily  undertake  the  preservation  of  their 
health.  Physiology  is  a  more  important  branch  of 
education  than  grammar  or  geology.  It  should  never 
be  omitted  in  the  course  of  training.  The  process  of 
digestion  ought  to  be  taught  thoroughly,  and  all 
ought  to  know  what  is  digestible  and  what  is  not. 

As  far  as  it  is  practicable  to  do  so,  the  art  of 
cooking  should  be  taught  in  our  schools,  and  it  ought 
to  be  regarded  as  a  greater  accomplishment  for  a 
young  lady  to  prepare  a  first-rate  loaf  of  bread  than 
to  move  gracefully  in  the  waltz — to  know  more 
about  biscuits  than  bangs,  and  fritters  than  frizzes. 
She  ought  to  so  understand  and  practice  the  laws  of 


410  Domestic  Sanitation. 

health  that  her  pure  and  healthy  blood  would  paint 
the  roses  in  fast  colors — roses  that  would  excite  more 
admiration  than  the  five-cent  article  purchased  at  the 
drug-store,  which  has  to  be  daily  renewed.  The  le- 
gitimate effect  of  tobacco  and  alcohol  on  the  stomach 
and  brain,  ought  to  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  of 
every  scholar  of  our  public  schools,  that  there  would 
be  fewer  drunkards  and  chewers  and  smokers  of  the 
vile  weed  in  the  next  generation. 

A  host  of  bold  reformers  ought  to  be  sent  into 
what  is  called  the  first  circles  of  American  society, 
and  make  it  fashionable  to  be  healthy.  It  seems  to 
be  entirely  out  of  style  to  be  vigorous  and  strong 
among  the  bon-ton.  To  have  the  tic-douloureux,  or  to 
be  full  of  malaria,  and  to  be  the  constant  owner  of  a 
first-rate  article  of  neuralgia,  will  make  up,  in  fash- 
ion's eye,  for  a  shortage  of  bank-stocks  or  money. 
Indeed,  you  can  make  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  up- 
per-tendom  out  of  a  little  blue  blood  and  a  long  list 
of  complaints.  Those  who  are  not  compelled  to  rush 
around  to  watering-places  and  medical  springs;  those 
who  eat  three  square  meals  every  day ;  those  who 
can  go  to  sleep  without  opiates,  and  wake  up  with- 
out a  fearful  headache,  hold  a  very  doubtful  position 
in  the  fashionable  world.  They  will  require  an 
abundance  of  wealth,  some  distinguished  relations, 
and  plenty  of  grit  and  independence,  to  maintain 
their  standing.  All  this  ought  to  be  reversed.  If 
our  social  life  were  formed  on  a  different  basis,  and  if 
it  were  deemed  low  and  vulgar  to  parade  a  long  list 
of  ills,  most  of  which  are  imaginary,  and  it  were  re- 
garded as  the  very  height  of  fashion  to  be  well  and 


Domestic  Sanitation.  411 

hearty,  we  would  soon  see  an  improvement  in  the 
health  of  the  upper  circles. 

It  seems  that  an  aristocracy  based  on  disease, 
high-toned  invalidism,  is  not  just  the  thing  to  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  this  is  a  progressive  age.  To  accom- 
plish this  reform,  it  will  be  required  to  make  a  radical 
change  in  the  customs  of  social  life.  The  intemper- 
ance and  gluttony  of  the  midnight  dinner  will  have 
to  be  aljolisbed,  and  the  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow 
of  soul  will  have  to  be  substituted.  It  is  the  chain- 
paign  of  the  night  before  that  lays  the  foundation  for 
the  veal  pain  the  next  day,  if  you  will  tolerate  so  old 
and  bad  a  pun  as  that.  It  is  a  serious  obstacle  to 
social  life,  as  well  as  detrimental  to  health,  that  an 
expensive  banquet,  with  a  silver-plate  accompaniment, 
is  necessary  and  essential  to  social  existence.  All 
who  can  not  afford  it,  and  who  think  too  much  of 
their  health  to  sacrifice  it  in  this  way,  abandon  society 
and  live  within  themselves,  rather  than  pay  such  a 
high  price  for  the  little  return  they  get  from  the 
fashionable  world.  Thus  it  seems  that  our  health  is 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  custom  and  fashion,  as  well 
as  to  gratify  our  gluttony  and  intemperance.  And 
while  it  may  not  be  said  that  we  are  a  sickly  looking 
people,  yet  it  may  be  asserted  that  a  real  healthy 
countenance  is  rarely  seen  among  those  in  mature 
life,  and,  when  seen,  attracts  attention  and  remark. 
Health  ought  to  be  the  rule  and  disease  the  excep- 
tion ;  and  so  it  might  be,  if  we  would  be  so  impressed 
■with  the  importance  of  the  subject  as  to  give  the  mat- 
ter our  constant  and  earnest  attention. 

In  this  beautiful  land  of  ours,  with  our  clear  blue 


412  Domestic  Sanitation. 

sky,  our  delightful  climate,  our  grand  and  lofty 
mountains  and  lovely  valleys,  our  streams  of  pure 
spring-water  gushing  from  the  hills,  we  have  more 
doctors  in  proportion  to  the  population  than  any 
other  nation  on  the  earth ;  and,  notwithstanding  all 
these  and  many  other  natural  advantages  to  preserve 
our  health,  we  manage  to  have  aches  and  pains  and 
sickness  enough  to  furnish  them  all  some  sort  of  sub- 
sistence. If  the  streets  and  alleys  of  our  towns  and 
cities  were  kept  clean,  and  tile-ditches  were  placed 
all  through  our  low  lands;  if  we  would  regulate  our 
diet,  quit  the  use  of  tobacco,  beer,  and  whisky,  and 
bathe  regularly  and  persistently,  it  would  take  the 
practice  of  a  whole  county  to  furnish  a  decent  sup- 
port to  one  doctor,  instead  of  forty  or  fifty  subsisting 
off  our  misery. 

In  some  countries  disease  results  from  the  over- 
crowded population,  low  wages,  and  high  price  of 
food,  and  consequent  starvation.  No  such  reason 
exists  in  this  land  of  ours.  In  this  regard  we  are 
the  most  favored  people  in  the  world.  There  is 
plenty  of  room  and  an  abundance  of  food,  and  that 
of  the  best  quality,  and  the  industrious  can  command 
such  compensation  for  their  work  as  will  bring  plenty 
into  every  home.  We  ought  to  be  the  healthiest  and 
most  vigorous  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  yet 
we  are  not.  We  are  not  as  strong  as  we  seem  to  be. 
That  fact  was  disclosed  during  our  late  war.  When 
the  drafts  were  ordered,  many  an  apparently  able- 
bodied  man,  who  had  carefully  concealed  the  fact  that 
he  was  diseased,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  nobody 
suspected   that  there  was  anything  wrong   with  his 


Domestic  Sanitation.  413 

health,  uuder  the  searching  examination  of  the  army- 
surgeon  was  compelled  to  surrender  the  secret,  and 
was  thus  prevented  from  taking  part  in  the  glory  of 
the  war,  and  had  to  beat  an  ignominious  retreat  to- 
ward home.  And  the  healthy  men  we  sent  to  the 
service  were  of  such  delicate  constitutions  that  many 
of  them  contracted  disease  there,  and  are  now  on 
our  pension-rolls.  I  can  but  think  it  was  a  bad 
stroke  of  policy  for  Congress  to  order  the  publica- 
tion of  the  long  list  of  our  pensioners;  tor  if  these 
lists  fall  into  the  hands  of  other  nations,  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  they  will  conclude  that  we  are  so  weak 
and  effeminate  a  people  that  they  will  all  want  to 
pick  a  quarrel  with  us,  under  the  mistaken  idea  that 
they  can  whip  us. 

Disease  affects  us  religiously  as  well  as  socially. 
I  have  known  those  who  (.'laimed  to  hate  the  world, 
and  to  live  far  above  all  its  pomps  and  vanities,  and 
who  had  persuaded  themselves  that  it  was  the  legiti- 
mate result  of  their  deep  religious  convictions,  when, 
in  truth  and  in  fact,  they  could  not  make  a  distinc- 
tion between  a  quickened  conscience  and  a  torpid 
liver.  Want  of  physical  health  not  only  impairs  our 
spiritual  vigor,  but  it  puts  us  out  of  harmony  with 
ourselves  and  everybody  else.  It  begets  a  spirit  of 
worry,  and  engages  mankind  in  the  senseless  combat 
with  the  inevitable.  This  too  often  becomes  the  fixed 
habit  of  our  lives,  even  after  the  cause  is  removed. 
This  shortens  life.  It  re-enforces  disease.  If  the 
truth  were  written  on  the  tombstones,  they  would  tell 
the  tale  of  the  vast  numbers  who  found  a  premature 
grave  in  their  attempts  to  control  what  was  entirely 


414  Domestic  Sanitation. 

out  of  their  jurisdiction,  and  then  worrying  them- 
selves because  of  their  failure. 

I  am  not  certain  but  I  am  traveling  out  of  the 
bounds  and  purpose  of  this  Convention.  If  I  am 
doing  so,  I  will  venture  the  remark  in  self-defense 
that  a  community  of  grumblers  and  complainers  are 
in  the  very  worst  possible  sanitary  condition,  and  are 
the  most  proper  subjects  for  a  Board  of  Health  or  a 
Hygiene  Convention.  What  I  may  say  is  not  to  be 
regarded  in  the  nature  of  a  Presidential  Message,  and 
therefore  I  feel  warranted  in  taking  some  latitude; 
and  if  I  do  wander  beyond  the  lines,  the  Convention 
will  have  too  much  sense  to  follow  me.  I  wish  to 
congratulate  our  health  officer,  Dr.  French,  on  the 
intellectual  feast  he  has  been  preparing  for  us,  as  dis- 
closed by  the  program  for  the  day  and  the  evening. 
He  has  secured  for  our  instruction  and  entertainment 
able  and  experienced  men,  and  the  subjects  they  have 
selected  are  so  practical  that  I  am  sure,  in  their  con- 
sideration, they  will  present  them  so  clearly  that 
those  of  us  who  do  not  claim  to  be  professional  and 
scientific  will  be  able  to  comprehend  them,  and  will 
profit  largely  by  hearing  them. 

It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  shame  and  a  disgrace  that 
the  American  people,  so  intelligent  on  many  sub- 
jects, should  be  so  ignorant  in  regard  to  the  subject 
we  have  met  to  consider.  I  trust  this  meeting  will 
be  the  beginning  of  many  to  come  after  it,  and  that 
it  may  be  the  means  of  creating  a  spirit  of  inquiry 
and  investigation,  so  that  we  may  all  know  better 
how  to  take  care  of  our  liealth  and  life. 

I  know  you  will  all  join    most   heartily   in  the 


Domestic  Sanitation.  415 

earnest  welcome  Dr.  French  has  extended  to  these 
distinguished  gentlemen,  who  are  here  as  our  teach- 
ers and  guides.  The  greatest  science  of  all  is  to  know 
how  to  live.  The  true  test  of  progress  is  not  that  of 
our  inventions  for  rapid  locomotion,  or  the  quick 
transmission  of  our  thoughts  to  those  at  a  great  dis- 
tance, but  is  rather  the  process  by  which  we  are  able 
to  present  the  highest  type  of  real  manhood.  Man  is 
the  noblest  work  of  God.  From  the  human  brain 
have  come  the  wonderful  conceptions,  revealing  some 
hitherto  hidden  laws  of  the  universe  of  God.  Man 
ought  to  know,  first  of  all,  the  laws  that  will  bring 
him  up  to  the  highest  point  of  perfection,  physically 
and  mentally.  Let  not  the  locomotive,  the  telegraph, 
the  telephone,  the  electric  light,  the  cloud-capped 
towers,  and  the  gorgeous  palaces,  tell  of  his  genius 
and  his  power,  and  he  at  the  same  time  be  a  dwarf 
and  an  invalid.  Let  him  be  as  God  intended,  in  the 
beauty  and  perfection  of  his  being,  the  crowning 
glory  of  all. 


POLITICS  AND  SANITATION. 

THE  program  discloses  so  many  interesting  topics 
for  this  afternoon  that  I  am  admonished  to  be 
very  brief.  The  committee  have  assigned  to  me  for 
a  subject,  "Politics  and  Sanitation,"  and  in  so  doing 
I  can  but  think  that  they  concluded  that  if  I  were 
not  well  posted  in  hygiene,  I  might  know  something 
of  politics;  and  I  credit  them  with  a  broad  and  lib- 
eral disposition  to  help  me  out.  But  to  discuss  the 
two  together,  and  successfully  show  that  there  is  a 
logical  connection  between  the  front  and  the  rear  of 
my  subject,  may  be  so  difficult  that  I  may  lose  in  the 
end  all  that  was  gained  in  the  beginning. 

I  heard  of  a  preacher,  once,  who  took  for  his 
text,  "Agree  with  thine  adversary  quickly,  while 
thou  art  in  the  way  with  him,"  etc.  He  said  he 
would  first  try  to  impress  his  hearers  with  the  neces- 
sity of  agreement ;  secondly,  he  would  show  that  the 
adversary  is  the  devil;  and,  thirdly  and  finally,  he 
would  make  a  practical  application  of  the  first  and 
second  propositions.  His  plea  in  favor  of  harmony 
was  admirable,  and  even  poetical;  and  he  made  a 
great  success  out  of  his  secondly,  "  And  the  adversary 
is  the  devil;"  but  when  he  came  to  unite  the  two, 
and  make  his  practical  application,  he  found  himself 


Address  by  Hon.  Will  Cuiiiback,  before  the  State  Sanitary 
Convention,  at  Lafayette,  Indiana. 
416 


Politics  axd  San  it ai  ion.  417 

very  unexpectedly  advocating  agreement  with  the 
devil.  The  situation  was  embarrassing,  and  he  in- 
voked the  prayers  of  the  pious,  or  he  would  fail  on 
his  thirdly.     I  may  make  a  like  unfortunate  ending. 

The  real  purpose  of  this  meeting  is  to  discuss  and 
consider  the  best  means  to  promote  the  health  of  the 
physical  body,  and  not  the  disorders  of  the  body- 
politic.  I  feel  warranted  in  the  belief  that  I  am  to 
be  jjermitled  to  wander  out  of  the  path  the  Board  of 
Health  has  made,  and  roam  around  in  a  larger  field, 
and  discuss  political  health.  The  assignment  of  such 
a  topic  is  my  license  to  do  so;  and  yet  tiiat  part  of 
the  subject  is  too  broad  for  the  brief  time  that  is 
allowed  me. 

That  the  health  of  the  body-politic  is  bad,  all  will 
concede ;  that  the  political  atmosphere  is  charged 
Avith  malaria,  and  that  we  are  constantly  inhaling  the 
poison,  can  not  be  denied;  that  there  is  no  improve- 
ment in  this  respect  over  former  periods  will  also  be 
admitted,  and  the  hope  for  a  better  state  of  things  is 
exceedingly  faint. 

An  Indiana  statesman,  some  years  ago,  gravely 
said  to  a  large  audience  of  his  countrymen,  on  a  pub- 
lic occasion:  "Things  are  in  a  very  bad  condition  in 
this  country;  and  if  there  is  not  a  change,  things 
will  remain  about  as  they  are."  I  fully  agree 
with  this  truthful  and  profound  remark.  When  a 
contagion  comes,  and  the  public  health  is  threatened 
with  an  epidemic,  by  quarantine  and  pest-house  regu- 
lations the  diseased  may  be  separated  from  the 
healthy ;  the  garbage  may  be  buried,  the  filth  may  be 
carted    off,    the    pestilence-breeding    pond    may    be 


418  Politics  and  Sanitation. 

drained,  and  the  Board  of  Health  may  be  able  to  head 
oir  the  disease  and  arrest  the  epidemic. 

All  of  that  is  only  a  recent  discovery.  It  has  not 
been  many  years  since,  that  the  presence  of  an  epi- 
demic was  universally  regarded  as  the  undoubted  evi- 
dence of  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty,  and  to 
battle  against  it  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  beyond 
invoking  his  mercy.  But  the  reign  of  law  is  now 
better  understood.  The  human  race,  having  learned 
that  the  causes  of  disease  are  natural  and  not  super- 
natural, have  come  to  understand  that,  if  the  cause  is 
removed,  the  effect  will  cease,  and  health  will  take  the 
place  of  disease. 

We  have  not  learned  the  way  to  heal  our  polit- 
ical disorders;  or,  if  we  have  learned  anything,  we 
have  not  tried  the  remedy.  We  have  an  epidemic 
every  four  years.  We  have  just  come  out  of  one. 
The  fever  was  broken  on  the  fourth  of  this  month, 
but  the  public  pulse  is  yet  weak  and  irregular. 
Everybody  has  been  feeling  the  public  pulse,  and  it 
is  exhausted.  The  public  tongue  is  still  heavily  coated 
W'ith  the  poison  of  the  campaign,  and  the  general 
condition  of  the  body-politic  is  very  much  worse 
than  it  was  before  the  contagion  appeared;  and  if 
some  life-giving  tonics  are  not  promptly  and  intelli- 
gently applied,  it  will  not  reach  its  normal  condition 
before  another  quadrennial  attack. 

During  the  existence  of  the  epidemic  you  can  have 
no  quarantine  or  pest-house,  for  the  reason  that  all 
take  the  disease  at  once.  You  can  not  remove  the 
garbage ;  for  the  partisan  press  dump  an  additional 
quantity  on  your  door-step  every  morning;    and  the 


Politics  aad  Samitation.  419 

public  speakers  come  and  scatter  these  heaps  of  filth 
among  the  people;  and  then  the  people  put  some  of 
it  on  poles  and  transparencies,  and  carry  it  through 
the  streets;  and  the  political  atmosphere  becomes  so 
poisoned  that  a  morbid  appetite  is  created  for  slander, 
and  good  men  actually  relish  filth  and  enjoy  a  lie. 
The  blood  becomes  so  corrupted  that  the  ugly  and 
health-destroying  ulcers  of  fraud  at  the  jiolls  appear 
on  the  body-politic — sores  that  never  heal,  but  con- 
tinue to  poison  the  vital  fountain  from  which  comes 
our  political  health. 

And  right  here  may  I  not  begin  to  tie  the  two 
ends  of  my  subject  together,  to  establish  a  sort  of  a 
connection  between  them — one  that  is  not  altogether 
imaginary,  either?  The  relations  between  the  mind 
and  the  body  are  mysteriously  and  incomprehensibly 
intimate.  If  you  touch  one,  you  affect  the  other.  If 
one  is  hurt,  the  other  is  wounded  by  the  same  blow. 
If  the  man  who,  for  the  time  being,  inhabits  the  body 
allows  his  manhood  to  be  soiled,  he  will  in  some 
measure  cease  to  care  for  the  cleanliness  of  his  body. 
If  men  spend  a  whole  campaign  in  throwing  dirt  at 
their  adversaries,  each  flinging  as  much  as  he  receives, 
so  that  all  are  covered  with  the  black  mire  of  defama- 
tion, they  will  conclude  that  they  can  not  be  clean  any 
way,  and  will  neglect  the  bath-tub,  and  the  body  will 
soon  become  as  filthy  as  its  inhabitant,  and  physical 
disorder  will  be  begotten  by  moral  disease.  When 
men  are  conscious  that  they  have  acted  the  hog  in 
politics,  they  are  apt  to  conclude  to  be  a  hog,  and  be 
done  with  it,  I  am  sure  I  have  seen  men  who  were 
once  neat  and  cleanly,  but  who  became  active  in  poli- 


420  Politics  and  Sanitation. 

tics  for  a  few  years,  doing  the  dirty  work  for  the  party, 
and  they  became  as  filthy  in  their  person  as  the  work 
they  were  engaged  in. 

A  man  who  will  soil  his  mouth  with  all  the  cam- 
paign slanders  of  a  red-hot  political  contest  will  soon 
begin  to  have  so  little  respect  for  that  opening  in  his 
countenance  that  he  will  make  it  the  receptacle  of 
other  things,  the  odor  of  which  can  not  be  suppressed 
with  cardamon-seed  or  burnt  coffee.  And  if  this 
proposition  be  true,  the  converse  can  not  be  false.  If 
dirt  will  strike  out,  it  will  also  strike  in.  If  a  man 
never  washes  his  body,  he  will  not  be  careful  to  keep 
his  spirit  clean ;  so  that  dirt  and  disease  will  re-en- 
force disease,  and  the  propriety  of  the  discussion  of 
politics  and  sanitation  becomes  dimly  apparent. 

Our  fathers  in  Indiana,  twenty  years  ago,  had 
rather  an  unhappy  time.  If  they  could  not  raise  a 
good  crop  of  corn  they  had  a  fine  yield  of  malaria, 
from  the  timber  as  well  as  from  the  cleared  land. 
The  smallest  patch  of  ground  would  produce  ague 
enough  for  a  large  family,  lasting  the  year  round. 

It  may  now  be  denied,  but  I  make  bold  to  assert, 
that  it  was  his  necessities,  rather  than  his  knowledge 
of  hygiene,  that  induced  the  Indiana  farmer  to  under- 
drain  his  land.  His  experience  taught  him  that  carp 
and  cabbage  could  not  be  raised  in  the  same  patch  at 
the  same  time.  And  I  presume  that  when  the  tile- 
ditches  took  off  the  surface-water  and  the  chills  and 
fevers  at  the  same  time,  he  simply  concluded  that  he 
had  become  acclimated,  and  had  beaten  the  ague  by  a 
large  majority.  It  was,  with  him,  not  a  contest  for 
protection  against  disease,  but  a  struggle  for  revenue 


Politics  and  Sanitation.  421 

only,  and  for  subsistence  exclusively.  Out  of  man's 
direst  extremity  come  the  grand  discoveries  that 
lighten  the  burdens  of  his  life,  and  sweeten  the  cup 
of  his  existence.  The  malaria  not  only  gave  the 
people  the  shakes,  but  even  a  worse  evil :  The  quack 
doctor,  like  the  gnat  and  the  mosquito,  came  out  of 
the  swamps.  With  his  lancet  and  his  leeches,  he  took 
out  of  the  bodies,  emaciated  with  disease,  what  little 
of  life  and  strength  was  left. 

Returning  to  the  political  situation,  we  find  that 
the  political  field  is  situated  on  the  low,  flat  region  of 
Bummerdom  ;  that  tlie  better  citizen  allows  the  ticket 
to  be  made,  and  the  caucuses  and  primaries  to  be 
held  in  that  unhealthy  region  ;  and  he  stays  away, 
and  the  bummer  is  the  boss.  The  press  and  the 
politician,  recognizing  that  this  boss  is  the  most  active 
and  aggressive  man  in  politics,  the  editorial  and  the 
key-note  are  written  and  sounded  at  his  dictation,  and, 
instead  of  draining  the  ]>ond,  it  becomes  more  and 
more  unhealthy  ev^ery  year.  Out  of  this  pestilence  re- 
gion comes  the  demagogue,  the  quack  doctor  of  poli- 
tics, and  his  foul  breath  and  false  tongue  cause  honest 
men  to  hold  their  noses  and  stop  their  ears  in  his  pres- 
ence. If  the  good  men  of  the  country  will  take  hold 
of  politics,  attend  the  primaries,  and  lift  it  out  of  the 
low  grounds,  and  bring  it  up  to  the  higher  plains  of 
decency  and  respectability,  the  health  of  the  body- 
politic  will  so  improve  that  quack  doctors  will  dis- 
appear; and  when  a  political  campaign  comes,  we 
will  have  a  discussion  of  the  principles  involved  in 
the  contest,  and  slander  and  falsehood  will  go  with 
the  demagogue  and  the  quack. 


422  Politics  and  Sanitation. 

We  think  it  was  Ijarbaric  for  our  ancestors,  a  few 
hundred  years  ago,  when  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  or  moon,  to  come  out  with  drums  and  kettles  and 
make  a  great  racket  to  scare  away  the  eclipse.  And 
60  it  was.  But  how  much  less  so  for  a  political  party 
to  attempt  to  drive  the  opposition  from  the  field  by 
having  the  largest  torch-light  procession,  and  by  yell- 
ing the  loudest  and  longest?  Like  the  Indiana 
farmer,  we  will  be  driven,  from  sheer  necessity,  to 
drain  our  political  pond.  We  will  have  to  establish 
a  Board  of  Health  for  our  politics  alone,  and  they 
can  co-operate  with  the  present  board. 

Again,  I  can  make  the  connection  between  the 
Alpha  and  Omega  of  my  subject.  The  late  hours  of 
political  meetings,  the  howling  and  yelling  of  our 
midnight  parades,  the  drunkenness  which  too  often 
follows  and  is  part  of  the  revelry,  undermining  the 
health  of  the  citizen,  are  proper  subjects  for  a  joint 
meeting  of  the  two  boards.  But  neither  the  one 
Board  of  Health  nor  the  other,  nor  both  together, 
will  work  out  any  reform  until  the  best  minds  of  the 
country  can  be  enlisted  in  the  work. 

The  enervating  effects  of  poisoned  atmosphere  and 
ignorance,  or  a  total  disregard  of  the  laws  of  health, 
make  the  human  race  an  easy  prey  to  the  pestilence 
that  walketh  in  darkness  and  wasteth  at  noonday. 
When  the  destroyer  appears,  men  will  cease  their 
buying  and  selling,  and,  panic-stricken,  will  organize 
for  sanitary  purposes.  But  the  enemy  has  the  advan- 
tage. How  much  better  to  anticipate  his  coming, 
and  coolly  and  wisely  prevent  it !  It  is  the  dead  and 
decaying  carcass  that  attracts  the  vulture.      Intem- 


Politics  and  Sanitation .  428 

ppranco,  gluttony,  and  filth  in  like  manner  attract 
disease. 

You  may  think  that  it  is  not  just  to  thus  portray 
our  political  condition ;  that  the  picture  is  too  highly 
colored ;  that  the  case  is  not  so  desperate,  and  the 
danger  is  not  so  great;  that  the  diagnosis  of  our 
political  disease  is  not  fairly  made.  If  you  so  think, 
i  hope  you  may  be  right  and  I  may  be  wrong.  I 
make  it  on  this  basis  :  The  better  citizen  is  animated 
with  the  desire  to  promote  the  general  good,  while 
the  vicious  element  of  society  is  led  by  some  mer- 
cenary and  selfish  motives. 

It  is  a  poor  compliment  to  our  common  humanity 
to  say  that  the  latter  is  the  more  uncompromising  of 
the  two.  And  yet  such  is  the  fact.  Virtue  is  quiet, 
happy,  and  content.  Vice  is  restless,  active,  and  ag- 
gressive. In  this  land  of  universal  suffrage  it  is  easy 
to  be  seen  which  element  the  aspiring  politician 
strives  to  placate. 

Virtue  comes  with  a  smiling  face  and  a  conserv- 
ative spirit  to  persuade,  and  with  a  reason  to  con- 
vince. Vice  comes  with  knit  brow  and  clenched 
fists,  and  demands;  and  while  virtue  gently  expos- 
tulates, vice  boldly,  and  with  horrid  imprecations, 
threatens;  and  while  the  virtuous  outnumber  the 
vicious,  yet  what  the  latter  lack  in  numbers  they 
more  than  make  up  in  clamor;  and  political  parties 
and  politicians  yield  to  force  rather  than  risk  their 
opposition,  knowing  that  it  is  easier  to  keep  the  good 
citizen  in  the  party  lines  than  the  bummer.  If  the 
latter  will  not  obey  the  behest  of  party,  and  rebels, 
bis    fault    is    promptly    forgiven    and    his    offense    is 


424  Politics  and  Sanitation. 

coodonetl ;  but  the  good  citizen  must  vote  an  un- 
scratcbed  ticket  every  time,  or  lose  his  standing  in 
his  party.  If  he  rebels  for  conscience'  sake,  the 
brand  of  unreliability  is  put  on  him,  and  he  must 
■wear  it  and  abandon  all  hope  of  political  preferment. 
There  is  a  fearful  lack  of  combativeness  in  our  polit- 
ical virtue ;  and  from  this,  more  than  any  other 
cause,  comes  the  disease  to  the  body-politic. 

In  hygiene  we  know  that  dead  animal  and  vege- 
table matter  in  the  neighboring  pond,  under  the  rays 
of  the  burning  August  sun,  is  poisoning  the  atmos- 
phere ;  but  we  conclude  that  in  some  way  the  air  will 
purify  itself,  and  we  go  on  about  our  affairs  and  risk 
the  consequences.  In  politics  we  know  that  the  bad 
elements  of  society  are  polluting  the  public  virtue, 
are  controlling  the  legislation  and  terrifying  the 
courts,  yet  a  correction  of  the  evil  would  involve  a 
conflict,  and  we  say  "  Peace,  peace,"  when  there  is  no 
peace,  and  seem  to  think  that  in  s^me  mysterious  way 
the  evil  will  correct  itself.  Evil  is  evil,  and  that  con- 
tinually.    It  never  corrects  itself. 

"VYe  are  a  Nation  of  freemen.  No  portion  of  the 
American  people  are  born  with  saddles  on  their  backs 
for  another  portion  to  ride  on,  and  a  soldier  with  a 
bayonet  to  keep  the  rider  from  being  throw^n.  Every 
man  is  a  sovereign,  and  none  are  serfs.  The  responsibil- 
ity of  preserving  the  political  health  lies  at  every  man's 
door,  as  it  does  of  the  public  health.  Yea,  more;  for 
he  may  not  be  able  always  to  control  the  one,  but  he 
can  aid  to  organize  the  better  elements;  so,  with  firm- 
ness and  courage,  he  can  prevent  serious  disorder  in 
the  other.     It  must  be  done  now,  before  the  health  of 


Politics  and  Sanitation.  425 

the  body-politic  becomes  so  feeble  that  it  will  not 
rally  under  proper  treatment.  If  we  wait  until  the 
poison  has  inflamed  every  nerve,  and  diseased  every 
muscle  and  fiber  of  our  political  system,  until  the  de- 
lirium of  anarchy  sounds  the  note  of  warning,  then  it 
is  too  late,  and  dissolution  is  near  and  certain. 

Do  not  put  me  down  as  a  croaker.  I  am  more  of 
an  optimist  than  a  pessimist.  I  do  believe  there  is 
yet  health  and  strength  enough  in  the  patient,  if 
wisely  applied,  to  banish  the  disorders  that  now  so 
impair  his  vigor  and  threaten  his  life.  Assuming,  for 
the  sake  of  my  subject,  that  a  political  Board  of 
Health  has  been  organized,  and  is  now  in  session,  is 
there  no  work  they  can  do  together?  Is  there  no 
common  enemy  against  which  they  can  mass  their 
forces  and  fight  to  advantage?  Can  politics  and  sani- 
tation, shoulder  to  shoulder,  make  a  grand  charge  on 
any  of  the  enemies'  works?     They  can. 

Look  at  that  whisky-saloon.  Out  of  it  come 
gaunt  want  and  shrunken  poverty  ;  out  of  it  come 
ignorance,  disease,  and  discontent.  It  is  the  rendez- 
vous of  the  idle  horde  that  go  from  thence  to  the 
caucus  to  vote  down  good  men  and  vote  up  their  own 
class.  Out  of  that  come  shattered  health,  broken 
constitutions,  delirium  tremens,  and  death.  Out  of 
that  come  communism  and  crime.  While  it  poisons 
the  blood  of  its  victims,  it  is  also  corrupting  the  life  of 
the  Nation.  The  treatment  must  be  prompt  and 
heroic.  The  patient  has  yet  vigor  enough  to  survive 
it.  If  the  saloon  can  be  closed,  and  the  vast  sums  of 
money  that  now  flow  into  it  can  be  used  to  purchase 
homes,  clothing,  food,  and  school-books  for  the  families 


426  Politics  and  Sanitation.] 

of  the  drunkard,  it  will  not  be  long  until  no  more 
tramps  will  be  seen  on  their  weary  j)ilgrimage  of 
want  and  shame;  idle  men  will  not  be  seen  shivering 
on  our  street-corners,  without  an  aim  or  hope  in  life ; 
and  our  social  and  political  fabric  will  not  be  in 
constant  danger  from  a  communistic  earthquake,  or 
of  being  buried  beneath  the  red-hot  lava  of  anarchy. 
The  ashes  from  the  crater  of  the  one  may  be  seen 
even  now,  falling  here  and  there,  and  the  listening 
ear  may  hear  the  deep  and  portentous  rumbling  of 
the  other.  Let  politics  and  sanitation  join  hands, 
and  wisely  and  firmly  apply  the  remedy.  Let  the 
citizen  come  out  of  the  primary  department  of  parti- 
sanship up  to  the  high-school  of  patriotism  and  phi- 
lanthropy. Let  quacks  and  demagogues  be  reduced 
to  the  ranks,  and  let  the  commissions  to  lead  be 
given  to  the  honest  and  capable  men  who  love  their 
race  and  country  more  than  they  prize  money  and 
position. 


WELCOME  ADDRESS. 

WORDS  of  welcome  are  the  forerunners  of  love 
and  joy,  and  always  bring  with  them  that 
happiness  which  is  their  constant  attendant.  The 
welcomes  of  this  world  make  up  a  very  large  portion 
of  its  enjoyment.  They  sweeten  life's  bitter  cup, 
and  make  lighter  its  heavy  burden.  How  the  dearly 
prized  welcome,  that  the  weary  know  awaits  them  at 
the  end  of  the  toil  of  the  day,  nerves  the  almost 
paralyzed  arm  for  the  struggle,  and  strengthens  and 
supports  the  tottering  limbs  to  bear  the  burden  that 
otherwise  would  be  insupjwrtable  !  How  grateful 
to  the  heart  to  know  we  are  welcome,  and  how  full 
of  sweet  music  are  the  loving  words  that  bear  the 
message  !  How  the  consciousness  that  our  coming 
has  brought  to  those  to  whom  we  come  the  blessings 
of  joy  and  peace  fills  our  own  souls  with  the  same 
comfort! 

If  the  home  welcomes  enable  the  weary  and  heavy- 
laden  of  this  world  to  better  endure  their  toil,  and 
with  more  courage  perform  the  duties  of  life,  may  I 
not  say  that  the  hearty  welcomes  we  receive  each 
year  at  the  place  appointed  for  our  meetings  quicken 
our  zeal,  and  sweeten  our  labor,  and  cause  us  to  be 
more  devoted  and  self-denying  in  promoting  the 
good  work? 


Delivered  at  the  meeting  of    the  Indiana  State   Sunday- 
school  Convention,  at  Anderson,  Indiana. 

427 


428  Welcome  Address. 

I  am  sure  such  is  the  fact.  On  this,  our  first 
assembly  together,  we  have  not  only  the  hearty 
welcome  of  all  the  good  people  of  this  young  and 
growing  city,  tendered  to  us  in  the  eloquent  words 
of  our  brother,  but,  comiug  as  we  do  from  different 
and  distant  parts  of  this  great  State,  we  welcome 
each  other  to  this  annual  convocation ;  and,  being 
bound  together  in  a  common  cause  by  a  kindred 
sympathy,  we  together  lift  our  voices  in  praise  and 
thankfulness  that  another  year  has  been  given  for 
work ;  that  we  have  one  more  year  of  experience,  one 
more  year  of  usefulness  ;  that  we  are  older,  and,  I  trust, 
better  soldiers  in  the  contest  with  vice  and  sin.  Let 
us,  then,  while  we  are  gratefully  receiving  this,  the 
hearty  welcome  of  our  friends  at  Anderson,  tender 
to  each  other  the  earnest  congratulations  of  grateful 
hearts. 

The  good  brother  has  told  us,  in  earnest  and  stir- 
ring language,  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  this 
work.  Who  among  us  but  feels  honored  in  being 
permitted  to  bear  a  part  in  if?  Who  among  us  but 
loves  all  those  who,  by  their  devotion  and  self- 
sacrifice,  are  doing  good  and  effective  service  to 
the  cause  ? 

On  the  plains  of  Bethlehem,  at  the  birth  of  the 
Savior,  a  sin-cursed  world  was  made  to  hear  the  glad 
tidings  that  that  event  would  bring  peace  on  earth 
and  good-will  among  men.  His  advent  was  wel- 
comed by  this  grand,  prophetic  announcement.  To 
my  mind  there  is  no  instrumentality  more  effective 
in  hastening  the  complete  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy 
than  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged. 


Welcome  Address.  429 

The  mission  of  Christ  was  one  of  peace — the  thing 
above  all  others  that  the  world  needs — the  blessing 
that  it  will  certainly  have,  so  soon  as  every  knee 
shall  bow  to  him,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  his 
name.  Not  only  will  the  nations  cease  to  meet  each 
other  on  the  field  of  blood,  but  the  wicked  spirit  of 
strife  will  be  driven  out  of  men's  hearts;  and  in 
every  nation,  in  every  community,  in  every  house- 
hold, and  in  every  heart  the  sweet  spirit  of  peace 
and  love  will  reign  supreme.  While  it  may  be  that 
that  happy  day  is  in  the  far-distant  future,  yet  it  is 
no  less  true  the  assurances  of  its  certain  coming 
are  each  day  becoming  stronger.  Civilization  every- 
where is  elevating  the  great  mass  of  humanity,  and 
enlarging  the  sphere  of  thought  and  action ;  and 
hand  in  hand  with  it  is  Christianity,  with  its  open 
Bible  and  Sabbath-schools  and  other  agencies  to 
purify  the  heart  of  man,  leading  him  upward  to  a 
higher  and  better  life. 

Thus  rapidly  the  great  work  of  human  regenera- 
tion goes  gloriously  and  grandly  forward.  One  after 
another  the  wicked  contrivances  to  keep  man  in  igno- 
rance and  rob  him  of  the  rights  God  has  given  him 
are  being  compelled  to  surrender  to  the  advancing 
hosts  of  light  and  truth  ;  and,  let  the  croakers  say 
what  they  may,  there  has  been  no  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world  when  it  has  been  blessed  with  so  many 
wise  heads  and  pure  hearts  as  now.  He  is  stone- 
blind  who  can  not  see  it,  and  a  miserable  backslider 
who  proclaims  to  the  contrary. 

To  bear  a  hero's  part  in  this  work  of  reformation 
ought  to  be  the  ambition  of  every  one  of  us.     The 


430  Welcome  Address. 

luxuries  that  wealth  may  bring,  in  some  degree  com- 
pensate for  the  toil  and  care  to  acquire  it.  The  ap- 
plause of  men,  and  being  elevated  to  high  position,  arc 
doubtless  gratifying  to  our  pride  and  self-love ;  but, 
after  all,  there  is  no  such  consolation  in  any  and  all 
these  things  as  that  which  flows  to  the  heart  in  the 
delightful  consciousness  that  we  are  the  honored  in- 
struments in  making  the  world  wiser  and  better,  and 
that  when  our  work  is  done  and  we  go  to  our 
graves — soon,  alas!  to  be  forgotten — we  will  leave 
mankind  in  some  degree  better  and  happier  because 
of  our  work. 

In  the  pursuit  of  wealth  or  fame,  we  may  not  at- 
tain either  until  near  the  end  of  life;  and  if  it  brings 
enjoyment,  we  are  permitted  to  have  it  but  a  little 
time ;  but  this  blessed  work  pays  us  for  all  time,  and 
ever  and  constantly  brings  to  the  heart  of  the  worker 
a  deep  current  of  joy  and  consolation.  The  prospect, 
as  well  as  the  retrospect,  of  the  good  fills  the  soul 
with  joy  and  j)eace.  In  all  this  joy  the  selfish  have 
no  part.  Wealth  may  come,  and  may  gather  around 
its  possessor  a  host  of  sycophants  and  heartless  flat- 
terers ;  fame  may  sound  your  name  to  the  end  of  the 
earth,  and  write  you  down  among  the  high  and  the 
great;  yet  to  the  one  who  may  have  attained  all  these, 
if  he  can  not  feel  that  he  intends  using  any  of  them 
for  the  elevation  of  his  fellow-man,  or  has  never 
thought  or  done  anything  for  anybody  but  himself, 
the  shame  and  remorse  will  come,  and  turn  all  the 
sweets  of  life  to  bitterness  and  ashes. 

If  you  ask  me  to  point  out  the  happiest  man  in 
any    community,  I  will    not    go    to    the  mansions  of 


Welcome  Address.  431 

wealth,  or  confine  my  search  to  those  who  have  at- 
tained distinction,  but  will  try  to  find  that  one  in 
whose  heart  is  strongest  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice ; 
who  has  visited  the  home  of  the  poor ;  Avho  has,  ani- 
mated by  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  scattered  his  bene- 
factions among  the  lowly;  who  has  ever  been  ready, 
when  a  good  work  is  to  be  done,  to  ask  himself,  not 
how  little  he  could  do,  but  how  much  to  promote 
it — one  who  could  forget  himself  and  deny  himself  for 
the  general  good. 

The  Sabbath-school  work  is  purely  an  unselfish 
work ;  and  I  feel  confident  that,  in  searching  for  the 
happiest  man,  I  would  find  him  in  that  work.  I  say, 
then,  the  more  we  can  do  in  this  work,  and  the  bet- 
ter we  can  do  it,  the  happier  we  will  be.  Sunday- 
school  work  is  no  longer  an  experiment.  It  needs 
no  argument  in  its  favor.  Its  utility  in  making  the 
world  better,  and  consequently  happier,  is  a  fact  so 
well  established  that  none  can  be  found  to  gainsay 
or  deny  it. 

In  the  few  remarks  that  I  may  add,  I  will  avoid 
the  well-beaten  track  of  Sunday-school  commenda- 
tion, but  will  consider,  rather,  the  best  mode  of  in- 
creasing the  efficiency  of  the  institution.  The  great 
minds  of  the  world  have  recently  been  turned  to  the 
consideration  of  this  important  question,  and  have 
brought  to  light  many  important  plans  which,  Avhen 
put  in  operation,  have  given  great  progress  to  the 
good  work,  and  have  caused  our  Sunday-schools  to 
keep  pace  with  our  constantly  advancing  civilization. 
Yet  we  must  not  be  content  with  present  attainments. 
The  very  little  time  devoted  to  Sunday-school  instruc- 


432  Welcome  Address. 

tion  makes  it  a  question  of  the  greatest  moment  as  to 
bow  that  time  can  be  best  employed. 

In  this  fast  age  youth  hurries  away  to  manhood  and 
womanhood,  and  in  that  fleeting  period  all,  or  nearly 
all,  of  this  Sunday-school  work  is  to  be  done,  and  but 
fifty-two  hours  each  year  for  this  kind  of  instruction. 
Each  moment,  therefore,  is  golden  ;  and  how  to  avoid 
wasting  the  precious  time,  and  how  it  may  be  best 
employed,  should  be  well  considered  at  this  Conven- 
tion. I  will  beg  to  offer  a  few  thoughts  now  on  the 
subject,  and  leave  to  others  who  have  a  riper  experi- 
ence and  a  better  com])rehension  of  the  subject,  to 
enlarge  and  farther  instruct  us  on  this  point  at  our 
subsequent  sittings, 

I  will  spend  no  time  in  making  suggestions  as  to 
how  we  should  open  and  close  the  school,  farther 
than  to  say  that  all  the  exercises  should  be  of  such  a 
character,  and  conducted  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  com- 
mand the  undivided  attention  and  interest  of  the 
children,  so  that  no  other  means  will  be  necessary  to 
maintain  the  most  perfect  order  in  the  school.  To 
accomplish  this,  a  great  many  most  excellent  methods 
have  been  suggested  by  those  who  have  considered 
the  subject,  and  here,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  is  very 
marked  improvement  in  all  our  schools.  All  these 
plans,  however,  will  fail  if  those  who  have  charge  of 
the  school,  and  more  especially  the  superintendents, 
have  not  a  double  portion  of  the  love  of  Christ  and 
Sunday-school  work  in  their  hearts.  But  I  will  not 
stop  to  consider  this  question,  but  will,  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, offer  some  suggestions  as  to  what  we  should 
teach  the  children  in  the  time  allotted  for  that  por- 


Welcome  Address.  433 

tion  of  Sunday-school  Avork;  and  although  I  have 
been  for  twenty-five  years  a  Sunday-school  teacher, 
and  have  felt  the  deepest  interest  in  the  work,  yet  I 
confess  I  feel  unfit  to  instruct  on  this  point. 

In  my  experience  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  there 
have  been  many  changes  in  the  manner  of  teaching,  as 
well  as  in  the  things  taught;  yet  it  must  be  confessed 
that  some  of  these  changes  have  not  been  improve- 
ments; and  as  these  changes  have  been  introduced, 
one  after  another,  in  our  teaching  department,  I  con- 
fess that  sometimes  I  have  felt  a  desire  to  seek  for 
the  old  paths.  The  Sunday-school  is  exclusively  a 
Christian  institution.  It  is  no  part  of  Sunday-school 
work  to  instruct  in  the- sciences.  For  the  instruction 
in  the  arts  and  sciences  we  have  our  excellent  com- 
mon schools,  seminaries,  colleges,  and  universities, 
and  the  whole  week  for  that  work.  It  is  deviating 
from  the  real  purpose  of  Sunday-schools  to  devote 
any  of  the  time  to  the  acquisition  of  this  sort  of  in- 
struction. I  would  go  further,  and  say  that,  in  my 
judgment,  it  is  not  a  wise  employment  of  the  time  of 
the  Sunday-school  in  studying  the  biography  of  the 
groat  men  of  the  Bible,  or  stopping  to  learn  all  about 
the  geography  and  topography  of  the  countries  in 
which  they  lived,  and  in  which  the  great  events  men- 
tioned in  the  Scriptures  occurred.  It  is  important  to 
know  all  these  things.  Let  them  be  taught  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Sunday-school.  Had  we  another  liour 
each  Sabbath  for  our  labor,  we  might  consider  these 
things  profitably  in  the  Sabbath-school;  but  as  that 
is  impracticable,  I  think  it  better  to  spend  the  little 
time  we  have  more  wisely. 

'28 


434  Welcome  Address. 

As  I  said  before,  the  Sabbath-school  is  pre-emi- 
Dently  a  Christian  institution.  Christ  is  the  great 
central  point  of  attraction ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that, 
when  we  meet  our  classes,  we  should  adopt  the  lan- 
guage of  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  and  know 
nothing  but  Christ  and  him  crucified  for  the  sins  of 
the  world.  I  know  that  the  objection  will  at  once  be 
made  that  the  theme,  because  of  the  want  of  variety, 
would  lack  interest.  This  is  a  hasty  and  ill-consid- 
ered objection.  The  Sunday-school  teacher  who  is 
qualified  to  teach  will  find  that  the  variety  and  mag- 
nitude of  the  subject,  rather  than  any  other  cause, 
will  be  a  subject  of  embarrassment. 

At  the  very  threshold  we  have  the  goodness  of 
God  in  sending  his  Son  to  die  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
What  a  delightful  theme  for  the  teacher,  and  how  prof- 
itable for  teacher  and  scholar !  Its  consideration  opens 
the  book  of  nature,  with  its  endless  pages,  on  which  are 
written  in  bright  and  glowing  characters  His  love  for 
man.  The  teacher  can  take  his  class,  and  show  on 
every  side  that  this  beautiful  world — with  its  rivers 
and  mountains,  its  music  and  flowers  and  inexhausti- 
ble stores  of  wealth,  all  for  man  and  his  happiness — 
is  provided  by  the  same  kind  Father  who  sent  his 
Son  to  die  that  we  might,  in  endless  elornlty,  bask  in 
the  sunshine  of  eternal  joy.  The  very  beginning  of 
Christ's  history  turns  the  Bible  student's  attention  to 
this  great  and  important  feature  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  has  made  more  for  the  cause  ten  thousand 
fold  than  all  the  terrors  that  have  been  held  up  be- 
fore men  for  violated  law.  Nothing  so  softens  the 
heart  of  robollious  ninn  aiul  arrests  him  in  a  course  of 


Welcome  Address.  435 

rrime  as  a  thorough  belief  that  the  almighty,  om- 
uipotent  God  loves  him  and  desires  his  happiness  in 
time  and  throughout  eternity.  It  begets  love  in 
his  own  heart,  and  repentance  and  obedience  quickly 
follow. 

We  can  not,  then,  commence  the  study  of  Christ's 
mission  in  the  world  without  having  our  hearts 
turned  to  God  in  love.  We  love  him  because  of  the 
indisputable,  evidence  that  he  first  loved  us.  He 
who  loves  God  obeys  him,  and  obedience  to  his  com- 
mands makes  the  Christian.  But  when  we  come  to 
the  record  of  the  sinless  life  of  Christ,  and  what  he 
has  said  for  our  guidance,  then  our  thoughts  are 
turned  to  the  other  important  feature  of  our  religion, 
that  strikes  down  all  selfish  pride,  and  brings  peace 
and  joy  to  the  world, — that  of  loving  our  neighbor  as 
ourselves.  It  is  impossible  to  read  and  contemplate 
the  life  and  sayings  of  our  Savior  without  falling  in 
love  with  all  that  is  good  and  pure. 

We  often  present  before  our  children  the  life  of 
some  good  man  or  woman  as  a  model  for  them ;  but 
human  nature  is  frail,  and  some  blemishes  are  found 
in  the  human  model  that  mar  the  beauty  and  weaken 
its  force  and  influence.  But  nut  so  with  that  of 
Christ.  The  beauty  of  tlie  teachings  of  Christ  is  in 
their  plainness  and  simplicity.  In  these  his  lessons 
are  like  his  life.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  it  is 
not  what  he  said  that  is  made  the  foundation  of  the 
wrangling  and  disputation  that  have  impaired  the 
good  influence  of  the  Church.  In  his  enlarged  view 
of  the  work  he  came  to  do,  he  made  no  point  on 
modes  or  ceremonies.     On  the  other  hand,  he  looked 


436  Welcome  Address. 

with  pity  on  the  hypocrisy  of  those  who  made  broad 
their  phylacteries  and  attended  only  to  forms,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  purification  of  the  heart.  And  here  I 
claim  we  have  an  argument  in  favor  of  what  I  insist 
should  be  taught  in  our  Sabbath-schools. 

In  our  Bible-classes  we  have,  in  almost  every 
school,  the  members  of  diflPerent  Churches,  and  many 
who  have  no  Church  relations,  and  perhaps  no  v/ell- 
settled  religious  opinions.  I  have  often  witnessed  in 
those  classes  the  warmest  disputes  on  doctrinal  points, 
the  fiercest  wrangle  as  to  whether  this  Church  plat- 
form or  that  is  according  to  what  Paul  or  Peter 
taught,  and  the  whole  hour  of  teaching  was  worse 
than  wasted,  and  the  sincere  student  who  came  to 
learn  what  the  Bible  taught  went  away  confused  and 
doubting.  I  have  ever  regarded  with  abhorrence 
these  theological  wars,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that 
they  are  becoming  less  frequent.  To  my  mind  they 
are  objectionable  in  every  place,  and  especially  so  in 
the  Sabbath-school. 

To  avoid  this  controversy,  take  the  word  of  Him 
who  spake  with  divine  authority.  Evi  ry  word  is 
aimed  at  sin ;  every  sentence  of  Christ  is  a  lever  to 
lift  man  to  a  higher,  purer,  and  better  life.  He  pro- 
nounces his  blessing  on  the  pure  in  heart,  on  the 
merciful,  and  on  him  who  thirsteth,  not  after  dis- 
tinction and  wealth,  but  after  righteousness.  He  pro- 
nounces his  benediction  on  the  peace-maker,  and 
commands  man  to  do  unto  others  as  he  would  have 
others  do  unto  him.  His  declarations  against  harbor- 
ing revenge  or  ill-will  in  the  heart  are  clear  and  ex- 
plicit, and  he  commands  us  that  we  must  love  even 


Welcome  Address.  437 

our  enemies.  He  condemns  slander,  and  inculcates 
charity.  He  denounces  hypocrisy,  and  teaches  hon- 
esty in  motive  as  well  as  action.  He  shows  the  folly 
of  covetousness,  and  points  the  mind  to  the  consid- 
eration of  true  and  substantial  riches.  He  shows 
that  to  God  we  must  look  for  all  our  blessings;  and 
then  he  teaches  us  how  to  pray  to  him. 

But  time  would  fail  me  to  go  further  in  mention- 
ing the  many  points  in  this  code  that  has  been  the 
foundation  of  all  sound  legislation  for  the  protection 
of  man's  God-given  rights.  The  words  of  Christ,  as 
they  have  become  disseminated  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  have  been  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 
Bad  laws  have  been  repealed;  the  thrones  of  despot- 
ism have  fallen  before  the  doctrine  of  the  universal 
equality  and  brotherhood  of  man.  No  slavery  or 
tyranny  can  long  exist  in  any  nation  where  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  are  everywhere  known  and  believed 
by  the  people.  In  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
oppression  is  seen  in  all  its  hideousness,  and  must 
hide  away  among  the  nations  where  there  is  no 
Bible — no  Christ. 

Christ's  teachings  not  only  make  him  who  fol- 
lows them  happy,  but  the  dissemination  of  this  truth 
promotes  the  general  welfare  of  the  State,  and  makes 
strong  and  permanent  the  very  pillars  of  liberty  and 
freedom. 

It  is,  then,  the  highest  patriotism  to  proclaim  his 
word,  and  fill  the  hearts  of  men  with  his  gospel ;  and, 
to  my  mind,  the  attempt  to  exclude  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  our  common  schools  is  a  piece 
of  wicked  folly,  not   in   line  with  the  march  of  our 


438  Welcome  Address. 

advancing  and  enlightened  civilization.  What  gives 
so  mnch  force  to  all  he  said  is  tlie  fact  that  his  life 
was  an  illustration  of  thff  beauty  and  simplicity  of  his 
teachings.  He  had  the  right  to  pronounce  his  bless- 
ing on  the  merciful ;  for  his  mission  to  this  world  was 
one  of  love  and  mercy.  He  could  lay  down  the  law 
to  love  our  enemy ;  for  his  last  prayer  was  a  petition 
of  forgiveness  for  the  cruel,  bloody  men  who  put  him 
to  death.  It  is  his  gentle  and  loving  spirit,  mani- 
fested in  his  life  and  presented  to  the  world,  that 
is  overthrowing  selfishness  and  making  men  more 
and  more  like  him.  The  subject  is  too  large  to 
attempt  any  elaboration  of  it  on  an  occasion  of  this 
kind.  It  was  only  my  purpose  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  it,  that  it  might  be  fully  considered  at  this 
Convention. 

I  think  the  Uniform  Lesson  is  a  grand  conception. 
It  serves  to  stimulate  teacher  and  scholar,  to  know  that,' 
all  over  this  broad  land,  the  same  lessons  are  being 
taught  and  learned  each  Sabbath.  But  let  that  uni- 
formity be  the  theme  I  have  suggested.  Why  should 
W'C  wander  over  the  time  of  the  old  dispensation  for 
types  and  shadows  of  the  promised  Messiah,  when  we 
can  go  at  once  to  the  New  Testament,  and  there  read  his 
life  and  learn  from  his  own  words  what  his  religion  is? 
Why  spend  much  time,  when  we  have  so  little  for 
Sabbath-school  instruction,  in  the  dim  light  of  mys- 
terious prophecy,  or  stumble  in  the  types  and  sacri- 
fices, after  the  prophecies  have  been  fulfilled,  and  the 
Son  of  Righteousness  has  arisen,  and  the  great  sacrifice 
fice  for  sinners  been  made?  Let  us  go  to  the  fount- 
ain at  once,  and   learn  of  Christ.     Let  his   life,  his 


Welcome  Address.  439 

deeds,  and  his  words  be  constantly  our  theme ;  and 
let  us  continually,  and  with  humble  hearts,  seek  for 
the  same  spirit;  and  let  us  hope  that  all  of  us,  and 
those  we  represent  and  try  to  teach,  may  have  all  the 
benefits  of  his  great  atonement. 


METHODIST  FRATERNITY. 

\  T  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
■l\.  copal  Church,  hekl  two  years  ago  in  Baltimore, 
of  which  Conference  my  colleague  and  myself  had  the 
honor  to  be  members,  it  was  the  great  pleasure  of  that 
body  to  welcome  Rev.  Dr.  James  A.  Duncan  and 
L.  C.  Garland,  LL.  D.,  as  fraternal  delegates  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church",  South.  Not  only  were 
we  made  happy  by  their  manly  and  eloquent  words, 
conveying  to  us  your  fraternal  regards,  but  we  were 
filled  with  a  still  deeper  joy  by  the  love-letter  sent  us 
by  the  venerable  Doctor  Pierce,  whose  afflictions  pre- 
vented his  coming  to  us  in  person  with  his  colleagues. 
May  we  be  permitted  to  join  with  you  in  gratitude 
and  thankfulness  that  God,  in  his  goodness,  has  spared 
his  useful  and  holy  life  to  still  stand  as  a  living  monu- 
ment of  that  past  when  we  were  one  Church  organi- 
zation, and  to  plead  with  an  eloquence  akin  to  inspi- 
ration for  Christian  unity,  peace,  and  love  in  the 
whole  Methodist  family?  Could  you  all  have  been 
present,  and  have  seen  for  yourselves  the  warm  and 
earnest  greeting  given  these  honored  brethren,  and 
heard  the  hearty  responses  of  the  bishops,  ministers, 
and  laymen  of  that  large  body  of  the  representatives 
of  our  Church,  or  the  eloquent  words  of  my  colleague. 

Delivered  before  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  May,  1878. 
440 


Methodist  Fraternity.  441 

no  poor  words  of  mine  were  needed  to  convince  you 
that,  witli  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  we  have 
the  honor  to  represent,  fraternity  is  a  living  reality. 

We  have  come  to  say  so  to  you,  we  deem  our- 
selves fortunate  and  honored  that  the  proper  authority 
selected  us  at  this  time  to  come,  and,  as  well  as  we 
may,  respond  to  the  loving  message  you  sent  us  at 
Baltimore.  It  is  indeed  a  matter  of  congratulation 
and  joy  that,  in  the  Methodist  Church  in  this  country, 
there  exists  to-day  a  better  understanding  than  at  any 
period  since  the  separation.  The  red-hot  coals  of 
difference  that  had  been  fanned  into  a  flame  by  the 
blasts  of  ^var  are  dying  out,  and  there  is  nothing  left 
now  but  the  ashes  of  former  conflicts.  We  can  not 
afford  to  quarrel  over  that.  There  is  not  enough  in 
it  to  hinder  complete  fraternity. 

We  come,  then,  tendering  to  you  the  affection  and 
good-will  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
rejoice  in  the  hope  that  you  will  not  allow  us  to  do 
more  than  yourselves  in  binding  the  Methodist  family 
in  the  bonds  of  a  sincere  and  earnest  Christian  frater- 
nity. We  are  here  to-day  to  give  our  hearty  indorse- 
ment of  the  Church  we  represent  to  the  eloquent 
words  of  one  of  your  fraternal  messengers  at  Balti- 
more. He  said  to  us:  "But  what  is  fraternity?  Is 
it  only  a  quadrennial  ceremony,  a  sort  of  ecclesias- 
tical court  formality,  a  specious  parade  of  public  ad- 
dresses? Is  it  a  mere  form?  Sir,  I  humbly  conceive 
that  Christian  fraternity  is  something  more  than  such 
solemn  mockery — something  deeper,  more  vital,  and 
more  sacred.  It  is  a  great  Christian  movement, 
giving  concurrent  expression  to   the  great  brotherly 


442  Methodist  Fraternity. 

kindness  of  more  than  a  million  hearts.  It  is  a  sub- 
lime Christian  alliance,  in  which  charity  becomes  su- 
preme over  all  disputations,  and  reaffirms  its  meaning, 
its  power,  and  its  consequences." 

These  grand  and  sublime  words  of  the  now  de- 
parted Dr.  Duncan  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  to  the  vast 
assembly  who  had  the  privilege  of  listening  to  him. 
We  accept  his  definition,  and  in  a  like  spirit  come  to 
you,  bringing  with  us  the  hearty  "  Amens  "  of  more 
than  a  million  and  a  half  of  Methodists.  And  why 
should  it  not  be  so?  If  our  religion  is  not  broad 
enough  to  take  in  the  whole  Methodist  family;  if  it 
be  too  weak  to  conquer  hate  and  overcome  revenge; 
if  our  Christian  charity  is  too  narrow  to  extend 
beyond  State  lines,  and  is  cramped  in  sectional 
boundaries, — then  had  we  all  better  look  into  the  gen- 
uineness of  our  conversion. 

The  politicians,  for  personal  aggrandizement  or 
party  triumph,  may  attempt  to  renew  past  differences 
and  fan  the  dying  embers  of  past  conflicts,  but  the 
Christian  man  can  take  no  part  in  such  a  work.  The 
very  essence  of  the  Christian  religion  is  love,  and  her 
voice  is  ever  for  peace.  It  seems  to  me,  therefore, 
that  at  this  time  there  is  a  large  responsibility  resting 
on  the  Methodists  of  this  Nation.  We  are  the  largest 
denomination.  We  should  take  the  lead  in  all  good 
works.  What  better  work  can  we  do  than,  by  ex- 
ample as  well  as  precept,  to  bring  these  many  million 
American  citizens  to  a  proper  understanding  with, 
and  a  right  appreciation  of,  each  other?  Such  a 
work  not  only  subserves  the  great  interests  of  re- 
ligion,  but   it    kindles   anew   the   patriotic   fires  that 


Methodist  FrateRi\itv.  443 

lighted  the  way  of  a  commou  ancestry  from  the 
thralklom  of  oppression  to  the  enjoyment  of  liberty. 

Skepticism  may  scoif,  and  infidelity  may  sneer; 
but  the  truth  still  stands,  that  there  can  be  no  civil- 
ization worthy  the  name  that  is  not  the  outgrowth  of 
Christianity.  We  who  profess  to  love  the  gospel 
must  so  have  it  in  our  hearts  that  we  will  show  in 
all  our  intercourse  with  each  other  that  it  is  our 
guide,  our  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  I  am  fully 
convinced  that,  if  our  free  institutions  are  maintained, 
if  our  tolerant  form  of  government  remains  in  per- 
petuity, it  will  not  be  because  of  our  armies,  our 
navies,  our  increasing  population,  our  many  States 
reaching  from  ocean  to  ocean  and  covering  this  mighty 
continent,  but  rather  because,  in  all  this  vast  popula- 
tion and  in  every  part  of  all  these  States,  there  may 
be  found  so  many  Christian  men  and  women  teaching 
by  precept  and  exami)le  the  pure  and  elevating  doc- 
trines of  the  Christian  system.  From  the  family 
altars  is  to  go  out  a  silent  influence  strong  enough  to 
still  the  ragings  of  revolution,  to  extinguish  the  erup- 
tions of  anarchy,  to  inspire  a  deep  and  profound  rev- 
erence for  law  and  order,  to  so  clear  the  vision  of 
mankind  that  prejudice  will  not  be  mistaken  for  con- 
science or  policy  for  principle. 

As  Methodists  we  must  measure  up  to  the  de- 
mands upon  us.  On  this  question  of  fraternity  we 
are  rapidly  coming  up.  Indeed,  we  are  recognized  as 
being  already  in  advance.  At  our  last  General  Con- 
ference we  had,  as  a  fraternal  messenger  from  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  that  distinguished  divine,  ihe 
Rev.  Dr.  F.  S.  Patton,  of  Chicago.     He  was  present 


444  Methodist  Fraternity. 

when  your  delegates  were  iutroduced,  and  heard  your 
kind  words  to  us.  At  the  session  following  he  was 
presented,  and  delivered  his  message.  He  alluded  to 
the  eloquent  words  of  your  fraternal  delegates,  and, 
with  a  joyful  countenance  and  hearty  emphasis,  he 
said  to  us:  "I  congratulate  you  on  this  happy  con- 
summation." But  with  a  sorrow  that  he  could  not 
conceal,  he  added:  *'My  only  regret  is,  that  your 
Church,  in  this  respect,  is  so  far  in  advance  of  ours." 
The  Presbyterian  Church,  North  and  South,  seems 
like  a  sea  whose  waters  roll  apart,  because  a  ledge  of 
rocks  lifts  its  persistent  head  above  the  waves.  We 
have  been  trying  to  remove  the  obstruction,  to  blast 
the  rock.  Committees  have  set,  and  editors  have 
written,  and  private  correspondence  has  been  under- 
taken, with  results  that  fall  short  of  complete  success. 
But  what  is  not  done  by  one  agency  will  be  done  by 
another ;  for  there  is  a  tide  of  Christian  brotherhood 
rising  fast,  both  North  and  South,  which,  when  it 
shall  have  reached  its  full,  will  hide,  deep  and  out  of 
sight,  the  rocks  of  bitter  memory.  The  tides  of 
human  feeling,  like  the  ocean,  come  not  at  human 
bidding,  but  are  under  divine  control.  And  we  are 
thankful  for  the  fact  that  this  tide,  which  is  setting 
fast,  though  it  rises  too  slow  for  those  who  are  im- 
patient of  delay,  rises  at  the  same  time  too  surely  to 
make  it  safe  for  those  who  stand  in  the  way  of  its  ad- 
vance. If  we  are  worthy  the  compliment  paid  us 
by  Dr.  Patton ;  if  the  tide  of  fraternal  feeling  in  the 
Methodist  Church  has  risen  higher  than  that  of  any 
other  sister  Church ;  if  we  do  love  each  other  more, 
and   seem   more   willing  to  forget, — let  us   then  pray 


Methodist  Fraternity.  4-45 

God  that  he  may  honor  us  with  a  rapid  growth  in 
grace  in  this  direction,  that  we  Methodists  may  be 
first  to  raise  the  shout  that  the  work  of  conciliation 
is  complete,  that  love  reigns  and  rules  in  American 
Methodism. 

Not  many  months  ago,  the  President  of  these 
United  States  and  his  Cabinet  came  to  this  good  city 
of  Atlanta,  to  shake  hands  with  your  distinguished 
governor  and  the  good  people  of  this  State  of  Geor- 
gia. The  whole  Nation  read  with  interest  and  grati- 
tude the  speeches  made  by  the  President  and  his 
Cabinet,  and  the  responses  made  by  your  governor 
and  other  distinguished  statesmen  of  Georgia.  The 
telegraph  sowed  the  good  seed  all  over  the  continent, 
with  the  quickness  of  lightning.  The  American 
people  caught  the  good  spirit  that  prompted  the  kind 
words  then  uttered  by  all  the  speakers;  and  a  strange, 
sweet  peace  seemed  to  settle  down  on  the  hearts  of  all 
good  citizens,  accompanied  with  a  stronger  hope  and 
a  better  confidence  for  the  future.  After  all,  they 
but  represented  what  politics  may  do  in  the  work  of 
conciliation.  They  pointed  to  the  country's  banner 
as  the  source  of  their  inspiration. 

AVe  are  all  here  to-day  to  show  what  religion 
may  do  to  bring  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  a  com- 
mon country  in  closer  sympathy,  holding  higher  than 
any  other  banner  the  banner  of  the  Cross.  The  good 
seed  was  sown  by  them  all  over  this  land.  Some 
fell  among  thorns  and  briers  of  deep-rooted  preju- 
dices, and  were  choked  to  death  ;  some  fell  on  the 
stony  ground  of  mere  policy,  and  will  be  scorched 
and  blasted  in    the   heat   of  the   next  political  cam- 


446  Methodist  Fraternity. 

})aign ;  some  fell  on  the  hard  wayside  of  Amorican 
2)()litics,  to  be  devoured,  if  not  by  the  devil,  by  liis 
familiar,  the  American  demagogue.  The  good  seed 
sown  by  your  representatives  at  Baltimore  two  years 
ago,  and,  I  trust,  that  which  we  have  come  to  sow 
here,  has  fallen  and  will  fall  on  good  ground,  and 
bring  forth  abundantly ;  and  after  a  while,  and  that  at 
no  distant  day,  we  will  all  shout  and  sing  together 
at  a  glorious  harvest  home. 

Let  us,  then,  hold  higher  and  still  higher  the 
banner  of  the  Cross  as  the  truest  and  best  ensi^rn  of 
the  grand  and  rapidly  increasing  hosts  that  are  de- 
manding peace  and  good-will;  and  as  men  take  cog- 
nizance of  our  fraternal  spirit  and  brotherly  kind- 
ness, they  will,  whether  skeptic  or  believer,  be 
compelled  to  say  as  did  Constantine  the  Great,  "  By 
this  sign  we  conquer." 

Let  us  not  halt  and  doubt.  Let  us  not  wait 
until  complete  fraternity  comes,  as  come  it  will^ 
from  other  influences.  Let  the  Methodists  of  this 
country,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  overcome  any 
difficulties  in  the  way,  and  usher  in  the  happy  day 
of  complete  harmony.  They  can  do  it,  if  they  will. 
The  Methodist  preacher  reaches  every  community  in 
the  land.  He  is  everywhere.  He  does  more  to  mold 
that  potent  influence,  ])ublic  opinion,  than  anybody 
else.  We  can  do  more,  then,  from  the  peculiar  organ- 
ization of  our  Church,  than  any  other  religious  body, 
if  we  will  be  but  true  to  God,  true  to  our  country, 
and  true  to  the  demands  of  our  advancing  civili- 
zation. 

AVe  are  here  to  say,  in  behalf  of  the  Methodist 


Methodist  Fraternity.  447 

Episcopal  Church,  tliat  she  heartily  rejoices  in  your 
prosperity,  as  we  are  confident  you  rejoice  in  ours. 
Let  us  know  each  other  better,  and  we  will  love  each 
other  more.  We,  then,  on  behalf  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  earnestly  invite  you  to  send  us 
your  fraternal  messengers  when  we  meet  in  General 
Conference  two  years  hence  in  Cincinnati.  Let  these 
words  of  love  continue  to  be  spoken  and  heard. 
Let  this  honest  courtship  go  on,  and  after  a  while  it 
may  be  said  of  us :  "  Whom  God  hath  joined  to- 
gether, let  no  man  put  asunder/' 


ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  CINCINNATI,  O. 

THE  number  of  distinguished  gentlemen  that  fol- 
low me  admonishes  me,  notwithstanding  the  lati- 
tude given  by  your  worthy  president,  that  I  must  be 
brief.  It  Avill  be  out  of  my  power  to  adduce  any  ar- 
gument, or  bring  forward  au}^  array  of  facts,  that  will 
better  commend  the  Association  to  the  public  than  the 
able  and  interesting  report  of  your  worthy  corre- 
sponding secretary.  And  when  I  consider,  in  con- 
nection with  that  report,  the  report  of  the  treasurer, 
it  is  a  matter  of  astonishment,  and  yet  of  congratula- 
tion, that  so  much  has  been  done  with  the  money  ex- 
pended ;  and  I  feel  that  if  all  the  good  men  of  your 
city  could  see  it,  there  would  be  a  simultaneous  opening 
of  hearts  and  pocket-books  to  sustain  this  good  cause. 
I  am  exceedingly  gratified  that  it  is  my  privilege 
to  meet  with  you  on  this  anniversary  of  your  Associ- 
ation, and  to  congratulate  you  and  rejoice  with  you 
over  the  good  you  have  accomplished  in  the  past 
year;  but  I  should  be  far  happier  if  I  felt  prepared 
to  add  anything  to  the  interest  of  this  occasion,  or  if, 
by  any  words  of  mine,  I  could  inspire  you  to  greater 
zeal  in  this  good  work.  I  accepted  your  kind  invi- 
tation to  be  present  to-night  in  the  hope  that  I  might 
be  benefited  by  coming ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that 
my  hope  has  already  been  realized. 

An  Address  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Twcntj'-first  Anniversary. 
448 


y.  M.  C.  A.  440 

To  the  Christian  philanthropist  and  patriot,  with 
his  soul  awakened,  purified,  and  enlarged,  with  ear- 
nest love  to  God  and  his  fellow-men,  as  he  looks 
abroad  at  the  vice  and  crime  in  our  country,  and  the 
mighty  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  removal,  how 
sadly  true  are  the  words  of  the  Savior  :  "  The  har- 
vest truly  is  great,  and  the  laborers  are  few!"  Yet 
we  thank  God  and  take  courage  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  more  now  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 
world's  salvation  than  ever  before,  and  that  while  the 
army  of  the  Lord  has  increased  in  numbers,  it  has 
also  increased  in  efficiency  and  power.  And  to  that 
comparatively  small  band  who  have  been  fighting  so 
bravely  to  bring  a  rebellious  world  in  harmony  with 
the  good  government  of  God,  there  has  been  no  re- 
enforcement  so  timely  and  effective  as  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  Composed  as  it  is  of 
Christians  of  every  name,  untrammeled  in  its  glori- 
ous work  by  any  sectarian  aims  or  objects,  with  only 
"  God  and  humanity  "  on  its  banners,  and  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Savior  for  its  rules  of  faith  and 
practice,  this  united  band  of  active  Christian  work- 
ers goes  forth  to  war  against  Satan  in  his  very  strong- 
hold, and  may  and  does  rescue  his  captives  from  the 
very  gates  of  hell  itself. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  may  be 
fitly  called  the  skirmish-line  of  the  army  of  Christ, 
preparing  constantly  the  way  for  greater  and  grander 
conquests  for  the  hosts  of  the  Lord.  Such  Asso- 
ciations may  and  do  reach  a  large  class  who  have 
hitherto  been  overlooked  and  neglected ;  and  es- 
pecially is  it    true    in  a   large  city  like  this.     It    is 

29 


450  K  M.  C.  A. 

almost  useless  to  pray  with  a  hungry  mau  before 
you  have  fed  him,  and  to  give  the  Testament  to 
the  naked  before  you  have  clothed  him,  or  obtain 
the  ear  of  the  stranger  until  you  have  convinced 
him  by  substantial  acts  of  friendship  that  you  are 
really  his  friend.  Or,  as  St.  James  has  it,  "  What 
doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though  a  man  say  he 
hath  faith  and  hath  not  works?  Can  faith  save  him? 
If  a  brotiier  or  sister  be  naked  and  destitute  of  daily 
food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them.  Depart  in  peace, 
be  ye  warmed  and  filled  ;  notwithstanding  ye  give 
them  not  those  things  which  are  needful  to  the  body ; 
what  dotli  it  ])rofit?" 

If  I  understand  the  workings  of  these  Associa- 
tions, the  aim  is  to  seek  out  the  destitute,  and  by 
acts  of  kindness  and  Christian  sympathy  commend  to 
them  the  religion  of  Christ.  In  this  way  the  fallow 
ground  is  broken  up,  and  their  hearts  are  made  ready 
for  the  good  seed  of  the  gospel. 

Another  interesting  and  very  important  feature  in 
your  work  is  to  seek  out  the  young  men  who  are 
strangers  in  your  great  city — young  men  whom  the 
calls  of  business  have  separated  from  the  commu- 
nion of  Ivindred  spirits  and  from  the  sweet  and  sa- 
cred influence  of  father,  mother,  and  sister.  This 
separation  has  made  them  sad  and  lonely ;  and  when 
the  hours  ot  leisure  come,  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to 
evil  influences,  and  soon  are  seen  in  the  gilded  sa- 
loons of  sin  and  crime.  It  is  indeed  a  glorious  work 
to  lead  such  away  from  the  grog-shop  and  gambling- 
hell  and  the  dens  of  pollution,  and  turn  their  feet  in 
the  paths  of  virtue  and    honor.     How  many   such  in 


y.  M.  C.  A.  451 

years  to  come,  will  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed  ;  and 
how  sweet  will  be  your  old  age,  if  then  you  have  the 
gracious  consolation  that  God  has  honored  you  by 
making  you  the  instrument  of  saving  a  single  soul 
from  a  life  of  sin  and  infamy  in  this  world,  and  if 
then  you  can  look  forward  with  un waning  faith  that, 
when  God  judges  the  world,  the  sacred  hand  of  the 
blessed  Savior  will  place  even  one  star  in  your  crown 
in  the  day  of  your  rejoicing  ! 

The  range  of  duty  and  usefulness  for  Christian 
young  men  in  this  day  and  age  of  the  world,  and  es- 
pecially in  this  free  Government  of  ours,  is  almost 
without  limit.  They  must  make  themselves  felt 
everywhere,  and  leave  their  impress  for  good  on  the 
State  as  well  as  the  Church ;  and  while  the  work  to 
be  done  is  of  incalulable  magnitude,  yet  the  motives 
to  incite  to  action  are  of  the  highest  and  most  en- 
nobling character. 

It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  deny  that  the  suprem- 
acy of  our  institutions  depends  upon  the  dissemi- 
nation of  Bible  truth  in  the  hearts  of  tlie  people. 
That  question  was  settled  long  ago,  and  the  great 
truth  uttered  long  since,  that  it  is  "  righteousness  that 
exalteth  a  nation,"  is  no  longer  doubted.  It  is  not 
our  mighty  armies  or  our  gallant  navies,  our  many 
and  populous  cities  bound  together  by  the  iron  bands 
of  our  numerous  railways,  our  lofty  mountains,  our 
extended  plains  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  our  majestic 
rivers,  our  commerce,  or  our  money,  that  constitute 
our  National  strength.  It  is  not  any  or  all  of  these 
that  give  us  the  assurance  that  the  blessings  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  will  be  the  rich  inheritance  of 


452  V.  M.  C.  A. 

those  who  may  come  after  us.  If  justice  is  firmly  es- 
tablished, and  the  blessings  of  liberty  secured  to  our 
posterity,  we  must  be  a  Nation  that  fears  God  and 
keeps  his  commandments.  The  more  true  religion 
we  have,  the  purer  and  stronger  will  be  our  love  for 
our  country.  True  patriotism  is  the  child  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  India  and  other  idolatrous  nations  they 
have  no  word  in  their  language  that  means  love  of 
country.  The  divine  law  as  thundered  forth  from 
Sinai,  and  the  pure  and  just  doctrines  of  Him  who 
spake  as  never  man  spoke,  are  found,  after  the  ex- 
perience of  many  centuries,  to  be  the  best  guides  for 
the  best  government  of  men.  It  is  a  code  that 
tolerates  no  despotism,  no  slavery,  no  inequality  be- 
fore the  law. 

The  Bible,  then,  should  not  only  be  read  in  our 
churches  and  in  our  families,  but  the  divine  truths 
and  moral  precepts  should  be  instilled  in  the  hearts 
of  the  young  at  all  our  public  schools.  [Immense 
and  prolonged  applause.]  And  from  my  stand-point 
I  must  say  that  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  therefrom 
is  as  unwise  and  unpatriotic  as  it  is  wicked  and  sense- 
less. [Enthusiastic  applause.]  Look  at  Mexico  and 
some  of  the  pretended  Republics  of  South  America, 
and  you  will  see  the  practical  results  of  this  policy. 
Their  attempts  to  maintain  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment, with  a  voting  population  almost  entirely 
ignorant  of  Bible  truth,  have  in  all  cases  been  a  mis- 
erable failure.  Revolution  and  anarchy  are  the  legit- 
imate results,  and  in  those  Governments  it  can  scarcely 
be  said  that  there  is  safety  to  either  person  or 
property. 


y.  M.  C.  A.  453 

The  situation  of"  our  country  at  this  present  time 
is  peculiar  and  interesting.  The  enfranchisement  of 
a  large  number  of  citizens,  who,  before  their  citizen- 
ship was  declared,  had  been  kept  in  slavery  and  ig- 
norance; the  recent  expansion  of  our  territorial  lim- 
its, by  which  is  added  a  large  number  of  persons 
to  our  population,  not  noted  for  their  virtue  or  intel- 
ligence ;  the  constant  influx  of  ignorant  Chinese,  who 
know  nothing  of  our  form  of  government,  our  civ- 
ilization, or  our  religion,  who  may  become  citizens 
and  voters, — all  admonish  us  that  this  is  no  time  to 
lower  the  standard  of  religious  instruction,  or  to  ex- 
clude the  Bible  from  our  common  schools. 

These  are  stirring  times  in  which  God  has  called 
us  into  being,  and  we  must  be  up  and  doing,  and 
show  ourselves  equal  to  the  grave  duties  required  of 
us.  If  this  mass  of  ignorance  is  to  be  enlightened 
and  Christianized  and  qualified  for  the  duties  of  citi- 
zenship, the  work  must,  in  the  main,  be  done  by  the 
Christian  young  men  of  the  day.  It  must  be  done. 
The  perpetuity  of  the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  depends  upon  its  accomplishment. 

Let  ns,  then,  with  honest  hearts,  ask  God  to  guide 
us  in  the  work  before  us,  and  grant  us  courage  to  do 
our  whole  duty  in  the  promotion  of  his  cause ;  and 
while  we  rejoice  at  the  growing  greatness  and  power 
of  our  young,  free  Nation,  let  us  accept  the  higher  and 
sweeter  consolation  that  our  growth  as  a  people  in 
virtue  and  intelligence  is  more  rapid  still. 


THE  METHODIST  PREACHER. 

A  COMMITTEE,  duly  authorized  and  empowered, 
have  imposed  upon  me  the  (kity  of  introducing 
to  you,  as  visitors  to  your  body,  the  Southeast  In- 
diana, the  North  Indiana,  and  the  Northwest  Indi- 
ana Conferences.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  perform- 
ing the  service  thus  required  of  me,  and  beg  to  tender 
you  and  them  my  hearty  and  earnest  congratulations 
that  the  opportunity  is  thus  offered  you  to  look  again 
into  each  other's  faces,  and  again  to  grasp  each  other 
by  the  hand,  and  once  more  to  talk  over  your  con- 
flicts and  joys,  your  trials  and  your  triumphs,  your 
few  defeats  and  many  glorious  victories,  and  generally 
to  encourage  each  other  in  this,  the  most  important 
work  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  man — the  sal- 
vation of  the  world. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  those  of  you  who  once  met 
in  one  Conference,  and  have  now  for  so  long  a  time 
been  separated  from  each  other,  have  looked  forward 
to  this  meeting  with  the  brightest  anticipations  of 
happiness  in  being  permitted  to  meet  old,  tried,  and 
true  companions  in  the  service  of  our  blessed  Master. 
We  of  the  laity  beg  to  express  the  hope  that  you 
may  all  more  than  realize  the  happiness  you  antici- 
pate, and  ask  that  we,  too,  may  have  a  share  with  you 
on  this  joyous  occasion. 

Address  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  at  the  meeting  of  the 
four  Conferences  of  that  State,  in  1866. 
454 


The  Methodist  Preacher.  455 

God,  in  tlie  plenitude  of  liis  mercy  and  grace,  so 
blessed  your  labors  in  the  rapid  increase  of  members 
of  one  Church,  and  the  opening  for  you  of  so  many 
new  fields  of  labor,  that  a  division  of  the  Conference 
became  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity  in  order  that 
the  work  be  more  eifectiially  done.  In  that  noble 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  that  has  ever  so  pre-eminently 
characterized  the  Methodist  ministry,  you  then  broke 
up  the  tender  and  sacred  tics  that  bound  you  to  one 
Conference,  in  the  anxiety  to  promote  only  the 
cause  of  Christ,  For  this  sacrifice,  as  for  all  others 
that  you  have  made  in  this  cause,  a  glorious  reward 
awaits  you. 

And  as  I  look  over  this  vast  assembly  of  minis- 
ters, and  see  that  they  are  mostly  young  men,  I  am 
sadly  admonished  of  the  fact  that  but  few  remain 
who  met  together  in  the  old  Indiana  Conference. 
To  the  great  majority  of  the  noble  spirits  who  then 
met,  the  Great  Captain  of  our  salvation  has  said,  "  It 
is  enough,  come  up  higher;"  and  they  have  passed 
from  a  mortal  life  of  labor  and  conflict  to  an  immortal 
life  of  rest  and  reward,  and,  with  the  palms  of  vic- 
tory in  their  hands,  are  to-day  having  their  reunion 
around  the  throne  of  God.  Let  us  indulge  in  the 
comforting  belief  that  their  happy  and  sanctified 
spirits  are  fully  cognizant  of  this  happy  meeting  of 
their  brethren  here.  And  while  w^e  sing  to-day  that 
grand  old  hymn, — 

"Come,  let  ns  join  our  friends  above, 
That  have  obtained  the  prize, 
And  on  the  eagle  wings  of  love 
To  joys  celestial  rise," — 


456  The  Methodist  Preacher. 

can  we  not  almost  hear  them  echo  back  to  us  those 
other  graucl  words? — 

"  Let  all  the  saints  terrestrial  sing 
With  those  to  glory  gone ; 
For  all  the  servants  of  our  King 
In  heaven  and  earth  are  one. 

One  family  we  dwell  in  Him — 

One  Church  above,  beneath — 
Though  now  divided  by  the  stream. 

The  narrow  stream  of  death. 

One  army  of  the  living  God, 

To  his  command  we  bow; 
Part  of  the  host  has  crossed  the  flood, 

And  part  are  crossing  now." 

I  remember  many  of  those  glorious  and  brave 
men,  and  could  mention  their  names  and  give  many 
incidents  in  the  history  of  their  great  usefulness; 
but  I  will  leave  that  duty  to  others  more  competent 
to  perform  it.  I  see  before  me  a  few  of  their  old 
associates,  who  will  doubtless  favor  us  with  a  recital 
of  some  of  the  noble  deeds  of  the  departed.  Neither 
they  nor  their  labors  will  ever  be  forgotten.  "  Blessed 
are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,  for  their  works  do 
follow  them." 

It  was  these  men,  with  you,  my  aged  brethren,  at 
a  time  when  you  were  few  and  widely  separated  from 
each  other,  and  when  Indiana  was  comparatively  a 
wilderness,  who,  overcoming  difficulties  and  surmount- 
ing obstacles  with  a  courage  and  fidelity  to  the  cause 
akin  to  that  of  St.  Paul's,  laid  deep  and  strong  the 
foundations  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Indiana. 
Their  devotion  and  yours  entitle  you  and  them  to  the 
brightest  place  in  the  history  of  pioneer  life  in  our 


The  Methodist  Preacher.  457 

State.  Let  us,  who  are  younger  and  who  are  enjoy- 
ing the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  our  seniors,  learn  wis- 
dom from  their  example,  and  humbly  pray  that  we, 
too,  may  have  in  a  large  measure  the  same  courage  and 
self-sacrificing  spirit  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ. 

As  one  of  the  results  of  their  services,  I  see  be- 
fore me  more  than  a  half  thousand  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  representing  a  membership  of  one  hundred 
thousand  Methodists  in  Indiana.  That  the  mantles 
of  the  departed  have  fallen  on  those  that  are  worthy, 
I  have  but  to  point  to  our  well-built  churches  in 
every  neighborhood,  town,  and  city,  to  our  flourish- 
ing colleges  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  to  our  ex- 
cellent and  prosperous  university.  But  time  will 
forbid  that  I  should  even  mention,  much  less  enlarge 
on,  the  many  evidences  of  the  rapid  growth  and  prog- 
ress of  our  beloved  Church  in  Indiana. 

We  are  permitted,  under  the  providence  of  God, 
to  live  at  a  most  interesting  period  of  the  Nation's 
history.  The  civil  Government  waked  up  to  the 
truth,  long  since  uttered  by  John  Wesley,  that 
"slavery  is  the  sum  of  all  villainies;"  and  amid  the 
clangor  of  arms  and  the  din  of  strife,  the  awakened 
conscience  of  the  Nation  proclaimed  the  freedom  of 
the  oppressed.  The  cruel  and  wicked  laws  of  the 
Slave  States,  which  forbade  that  the  slave  should  be 
taught  to  read,  fell  with  the  accursed  system  that 
called  them  into  existence,  and  to-day  these  people 
are  holding  out  their  hands  to  us  for  the  bread  of  life. 
They  not  only  have  all  the  claims  of  a  common  hu- 
manity upon  us,  but  we  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude 
besides  for  their  loyalty  to  the  Government,  and  for 


458  The  Methodist  Preacher. 

tlieii-  effective  aid  and  active  sympathy  in  preserving 
from  destruction  this  tenijjle  of  civil  aud  religious 
liberty.  Let  us  open  wide  to  them  the  doors  of  the 
temple  of  knowledge,  and  lead  them  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness,  and  they  will  become,  not  only  good 
and  faithful  citizens  and  effectual  co-workers  in  up- 
holding this  good  Government  of  ours,  but  will  be 
also  valuable  auxiliaries  in  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 

I  am  fully  impressed  with  the  belief  that  our 
Missionary  Committee  duly  appreciate  the  importance 
of  this  work,  and  will  give  to  its  promotion  their 
well-known  piety  and  ability.  Let  the  Methodist 
Church  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  do  more  than 
her  full  share  of  this  missionary  work.  But  this  is 
not  all  the  work  that  this  changed  state  of  things 
has  made  for  earnest  Christians.  The  doors  that  had 
been  closed  against  all  those  wdio  spoke  against  the 
great  National  sin  are  now  open,  and  each  day  the 
South  is  coming  nearer  the  enjoyment  of  her  Consti- 
tutional rights. 

The  free  press,  the  free  pulpit,  and  the  free  speech 
that  slavery  had  for  years  banished  from  the  Slave 
States  are  being  rapidly  restored  to  them,  and  a  full 
and  complete  enjoyment  of  those  blessings  guaranteed 
to  the  people  by  the  Government,  and  protected  by 
her  strong  arm,  will  enable  the  great  truths  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  planted  there  by  the  loyal  and 
the  good,  to  germinate  and  bring  forth  the  peaceable 
fruits  of  loyalty  to  God  and  this  good  Government 
under  which  we  live.  New  duties  and  responsibil- 
ities are  upon  us.     Let  us  not  hesitate,  but  go  up  at 


The  Methodist  Preacher.  459 

once  and  possess  the  land.  No  reconstruction  will 
be  so  eiFectual  as  that  which  will  enlighten  the  mind, 
purify  the  heart,  and  convert  the  soul.  If  w^e  can 
bring  a  rebellious  people  in  harmony  with  the  govern- 
ment of  God,  they  will  be  in  full  accord  with  the 
civil  authority. 

But  I  am  saying  too  much  in  introducing  those 
who  were  before  old  acquaintances.  I  again  con- 
gratulate you  that  you  are  thus  brought  together, 
and  will  close  by  expressing  the  hope  that  all  our 
hearts  may  be  so  warmed  by  the  grace  of  God  and 
this  meeting  together,  that  we  may  go  hence  with  new 
zeal  in  the  promotion  of  every  good  work ! 


N.  P.  BANKS. 

AFTER  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  has  come 
and  gone,  the  remnant  of  that  gallant  band  who 
for  nine  weeks  stood  together  and  voted  for  N.  P. 
Banks  for  presiding  officer  of  the  Thirty-Fourth  Con- 
gress are  permitted  to  meet  in  this  beautiful  Capital, 
where  the  great  contest  was  fought  and  won.  With 
mingled  joy  and  gratitude  we  hail  our  great  leader 
iu  that  contest,  and  with  a  delight  that  no  words  can 
express  we  grasp  his  hand  and  send  up  a  sincere  in- 
vocation that  when  we,  who  may  be  left,  shall  meet 
again  in  the  future,  he,  too,  may  come  and  preside 
at  our  banquet.  But  with  the  joy  come  the  tears 
of  memory,  that  three-fourths  of  our  number  have 
finished  their  work  and  crossed  the  dark  river.  Let 
us  indulge  in  the  pleasing  belief  that  their  spirits  are 
here  to  take  glad  cognizance  that  they  are  as  fresh  iu 
our  memories  as  they  were  at  the  adjournment  of  the 
Congress  that  gave  them  all  a  place  in  the  history  of 
the  Kepublic. 

The  faithful  historian  will  not  fail  to  record  the 
2d  of  February,  1856,  when  that  brave  old  apostle 
of  human  liberty,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  administered 
the  oath  of  office  to  Speaker  N.  P.  Banks,  as  the 
commencement  of  a  new  era  in  the  young  Republic. 

Delivered  at  Washington,  D.  C,  at  the  Reunion  of  the 
Members  of  Congress  who  voted  for  the  Honorable  N.  P 
Banks  for  Speaker. 

460 


iV.  p.  Banks.  461 

It  planted  a  new  hope  in  the  heart  of  the  slave,  and 
gave  a  new  fear  to  his  master.  Liberty  smiled  at 
the  victory ;  and  slavery  trembled  with  rage  at  its 
first  great  defeat.  Freedom,  and  not  slavery,  was  to 
name  the  committees  and  shape  the  legislation  in  the 
people's  House  of  Congress.  Our  success  gave  new 
courage  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  patriotic  masses, 
and  a  new  impetus  to  the  agitation  that  had  awak- 
ened the  conscience  of  the  Nation.  In  the  newer 
and  brighter  pages  of  progress  and  civilization  that 
have  since  been  written,  let  each  page  show  that  our 
nine  weeks'  contest  for  the  speakership,  and  our  glo- 
rious victory,  made  possible  all  the  grander  results 
that  followed. 

AVe  have  met  to-day  to  honor  our  great  leader — to 
exchange  greetings,  and  recall  the  incidents  of  that 
great  struggle.  AVe  rejoice  that  among  the  living  to 
greet  the  few  that  remain,  is  the  gallant  hero  of  that 
contest — our  leader  then,  our  idol  now.  Let  us  con- 
gratulate the  couutry  that  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives has  now  the  benefit  of  his  ripe  experience  and 
of  a  courage  that  threescore  and  ten  years  have  not 
weakened.  If  we  could  have  but  one  of  our  number 
to  sit  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  roll 
were  called  as  to  whom  it  should  be,  the  voice  of 
the  living  and  the  spirits  of  the  dead  of  our  number 
would  answer  as  aforetime,  N.  P.  Banks!  Long  may 
he  live  to  sit  in  the  councils  of  the  Nation,  and  to 
aid  in  perfecting  what  was  begun  in  his  election  to 
the  speakership  —  the  securing  of  the  inalienable 
rights  of  every  American  citizen,  be  he  white  or 
black ! 


462  JV.  P.  Banks. 

Two  of  our  uumber — Justin  S.  Morrill,  of  Ver- 
mont, and  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio — are,  and  have  been 
for  many  years,  honoring  their  respective  States  and 
the  whole  Nation  by  their  great  ability,  spotless  integ- 
rity, and  patriotic  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of 
tlic  country,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  This 
leads  me  to  proclaim  it  as  my  belief  that  if  the  rest  of 
us  were  in  the  Senate,  it  would  greatly  contribute  to 
the  dignity  of  that  branch  of  Congress,  and  add 
largely  to  the  general  average  of  respectability  and 
usefulness  of  its  members. 

Senator  Morrill  is  the  author  of  the  measure  that 
has  enabled  our  country  to  manufacture  her  own  goods, 
thus  furnishing  labor  and  good  wages  to  the  laboring 
classes,  and  compelling  the  foreign  manufacturer  who 
seeks  our  markets,  that  have  been  created  by  the  en- 
terprise and  energy  of  our  own  people,  to  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  selling  their  cheap  products, — thus  fur- 
nishing a  revenue  to  carry  on  the  war,  sustaining 
constantly  the  National  credit,  and  enabling  us  to 
suppress  the  Rebellion.  It  has  furnished  the  revenue 
to  rapidly  extinguish  our  great  National  debt,  and 
put  the  Nation's  credit  on  a  better  basis  than  that  of 
any  other  Nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

John  Sherman  has  been  in  Congress  ever  since 
this  event  that  has  called  us  together,  except  the  four 
years  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  During 
those  four  years  he  so  managed  the  finances  as  to 
resume  specie  payment — a  consummation  that  public 
clamor  and  the  prophets  of  evil  pronounced  an  ini- 
jjossibility.  It  took  courage,  but  he  had  it ;  and 
while    everybody  predicted  ruin   and   disaster   if  the 


N.  P.  Banks.  463 

attempt  were  made ;  yet,  under  his  wise  management, 
resumption  came  as  gently  as  the  dew  falls  at  mid- 
night; and  the  credit  and  honor  of  the  Nation  were 
saved.  While  the  soldier  saved  the  Nation's  life,  John 
Sherman  saved  her  honor,  which  is  dearer  than  life. 
Both  alike  are  heroes,  deserving  equal  honor  from  a 
grateful  people.  In  the  Senate  chamber,  John  Sher- 
man has  no  superior  for  broad  statesmanship,  devotion 
to  his  country's  best  interests,  and  for  the  courage  oi 
his  convictions.  He  has  made  it  a  matter  of  so  much 
distinction  to  be  a  United  States  Senator  from  Ohio, 
that  there  is  a  reasonably  well-founded  rumor  that 
citizens  of  Ohio,  and  even  residents  of  New  York, 
are  inclined  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  for  the 
honor  of  being  his  colleague.  There  is  but  one  way 
by  which  the  country  can  show  the  full  appreciation 
of  the  great  service  John  Sherman  has  rendered;  and 
in  doing  so  the  Nation  will  honor  itself  more  than 
him.  I  hope  some  of  our  later  reunions  will  be  at 
the  White  House. 

Among  our  number,  and  the  senior  in  years,  is 
our  honorable  and  venerable  friend,  Francis  E.  Spin- 
ner. He  was  the  intimate  and  trusted  friend  of 
Lincoln,  Stanton,  and  Chase,  and  a  valued  counselor 
of  all  of  them  during  the  great  Civil  War.  For 
fourteen  years  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States, 
with  the  care  of  billions  of  money,  there  is  no  stain 
on  his  integrity,  his  signature  on  the  greenbacks 
being  the  only  crooked  official  act.  His  efficiency 
and  fidelity  in  every  position  is  a  part  of  the  well- 
known  history  of  the  country,  and  the  whole  Nation 
takes  pride  in  doing  honor  to  the  old  veteran. 


464  N.  P.  Banks. 

These  are  some  of  the  living  men  who  in  that 
great  contest  voted  for  Banks.  I  need  not  speak  of 
the  distinguished  dead  of  our  number.  They  have 
their  sure  place  in  history,  and  their  fame  is  secured 
in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  country. 

The  great  apostle,  writing  to  the  Hebrews,  in 
speaking  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  Joseph, 
Moses,  and  others,  said:  "And  what  shall  I  more 
say?  for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gideon, 
and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jephtha;  of 
David  also,  and  Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets :  who 
through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteous- 
ness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  out  of  weakness  became  strong,  waxed 
valiant  in  fight,  and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of 
the  aliens."  So  time  would  fail  mo  to  speak  of  each 
of  our  noble  band.  Among  the  names  I  have  not 
mentioned  are  the  Gideons,  the  Davids,  the  Samuels, 
and  the  rest  of  the  circle  of  patriots  who  assisted  in 
freeing  the  oppressed;  who  waxed  valiant  in  fight  to 
save  the  life  of  the  Nation;  who  stopped  the  mouths 
of  opposition  lions;  who  wrought  righteousness  in 
pensioning  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic ;  and  who 
aided  the  Government  to  turn  to  flight  the  armies  of 
the  Confederacy. 

I  do  not  claim  to  have  a  marked  personal  resem- 
blance to  the  apostle  Paul,  but  I  have  not  the  slight- 
est doubt  that  I  feel  on  this  occasion  even  more 
intensely  than  he  did  when  he  was  discoursing  of  the 
faith  of  the  worthy  saints  of  those  Old  Testament 
and   barbaric  times.     I   say  more  intensely,   because 


N.  P.  Banks.  465 

ray  enthusiasm  has  a  better  and  sounder  basis.  In 
many  respects  the  remnant  of  our  jxjlitical  Israel  is 
superior  to  the  heroes  mentioned  by  the  apostle. 
Moses  acted  so  badly  that  he  was  only  permitted  to 
look  at  the  promised  land,  while  Barak  refused  to  take 
his  army  and  go  and  fight  Sisera  until  a  prophetess 
by  the  name  of  Deborah  (and  another  man's  wife  at 
that)  would  go  with  him.  Samson  allowed  his  wife 
to  get  away  with  him  on  the  riddle  business,  and 
then  he  killed  and  stripped  the  garments  off  of  thirty 
men,  and  paid  his  bet  with  the  Philistines  in  second- 
hand clothing.  And  Jacob  got  up  a  mean  combine 
and  trust  on  Laban,  his  father-in-law,  in  the  cattle 
business.  But  when  we  come  to  Joseph  we  take  off 
our  hats.  Paul  has  us  there.  We  may  have  the 
equals  of  Joseph  in  our  little  circle,  but  he  has  never 
had  a  superior  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

Between  the  past  and  the  present  there  are  no 
missing  links.  We  old  men  hold  that  connecting 
position,  and  with  the  most  of  us  it  seems  to  be  the 
only  office  that  has  been  persistently  searching  for 
us.  And  yet,  with  our  long  experience  and  close  ob- 
servation of  men  and  affairs,  we  might  be  useful  to 
the  country  if  a  loud  call  should  be  made  for  our 
services.  As  just  now  the  antique  seems  to  be  the 
latest  fad,  some  of  us  would  make  splendid  ornaments 
to  decorate  and  beautify  an  Administration.  We 
have  not  found  it  delightful  or  profitable  to  play  the 
dark-horse  act  during  the  convulsions  of  nominating 
Conventions.  But  we  take  comfort  in  the  fact  that 
we  are  sovereigns,  and  not  servants.  In  that  dramatic 
period,  from  1856  to  1866,  we  played  well  our  part 

30 


466  N.  P.  Banks. 

in  the  first  act.  Let  us  wear  the  laurels  we  have 
won,  gracefully.  We  can  do  as  they  do  on  the  east- 
ern coast  of  Old  Virginia,  "Live  on  oysters  and  past 
recollections."  Let  us  be  smiling,  jolly  old  optimists, 
and  not  whining,  complaining  pessimists.  Let  us  en- 
deavor to  feel  as  our  own  Whittier  did  when  he  wrote 
these  lines : 

"  O,  sometimes  gleams  upon  our  sight, 
Through  present  wrong,  the  Eternal  Right ; 
And  step  by  step,  since  time  began, 
We  see  the  steady  gain  of  man. 

For  still  the  new  transcends  the  old 
In  signs  and  tokens  manifold : — 
Slaves  rise  up  men;  the  olive  waves. 
With  roots  deep  set  in  battle-graves. 

Through  the  harsh  noises  of  our  day 
A  low  sweet  prelude  finds  its  way ; 
Through  clouds  of  doubt  and  creeds  of  fear 
A  light  is  breaking  calm  and  clear. 

Henceforth  my  heart  shall  sigh  no  more 
For  olden  times  and  holier  shore ; 
God's  love  and  b'essing,  then  and  there, 
Are  now,  and  here,  and  everywhere." 


THE  TOAST— THE  CITIZEN  SOLDIER. 

A  NEW  generation  has  been  born,  and  has  had 
xJL  thrust  upon  them  the  duties  of  citizenship,  since 
the  close  of  our  Civil  War.  To  that  generation  the 
beginning,  the  continuance,  and  the  end  of  the  war — 
the  causes  that  brought  it  on,  its  tragic  events,  and 
its  glorious  results — can  only  be  known  from  history 
and  tradition.  Their  knowledge  of  the  attending  en- 
vironments, from  the  beginning  to  the  close,  is  as 
limited  and  imperfect  as  is  ours  of  the  great  Revolu- 
tionary struggle  that  resulted  in  the  formation  and 
establishment  of  the  Republic.  History  and  tradi- 
tion may  turn  their  brightest  lights  on  the  condi- 
tions that  existed  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  yet,  viewed 
now  through  this  vista  of  three  decades,  the  picture 
thus  drawn  gives  them  a  view  of  the  real  situation  as 
shadowy  as  the  photograph  does  of  the  true  character 
of  the  living  person  it  represents. 

All  has  been  done  in  that  direction  that  human 
genius  and  ability  can  possibly  accomplish.  The 
statesman,  the  philosopher,  the  historian,  the  poet, 
have  done  their  utmost  to  aid  posterity  in  seeing  the 
lights  and  shadow^s  of  this,  the  greatest  event  in  hu- 
man history, — the  greatest  because  it  was  to  settle 
the  question  w^iether  a  Republic  like  ours  had  the 
inherent  strength  to  maintain  her  own  existence ;  a 
question  that  interested  the  human  race  in  every  part 

Responded  to  at  the  Loj'al  Legion  Banquet,  at  Indianapolis. 
467 


468      The  Toast— The  Citizen  Soldier. 

of  the  civilized  world.  Because  if  the  civilized  man 
could  uot  govern  himself— was  uot  able  to  formulate 
a  government  that  would  protect  him  in  all  his  rights 
as  a  man  without  the  domination  of  kings  and  stand- 
ing armies — then  the  reign  of  tyranny  must  be  per- 
petual, and  despotism  continue  to  rob  man  of  the 
privileges  that  inhered  in  his  very  manhood,  causing 
him  to  remain  the  mere  tool  and  serf  of  another. 
The  monarchs  of  the  world  and  their  courts  laughed 
and  took  courage  at  our  calamity,  while  oppressed 
man  in  all  the  domain  of  despotism,  the  world  over, 
wept  and  prayed  for  our  triumph.  Thus  our  Civil 
War  was  uot  only  the  great  event  of  the  century,  but, 
as  the  years  come  and  go  and  we  get  farther  and 
farther  from  1861,  we  become  convinced  that  it  re- 
quires no  gift  of  prophecy  to  declare  that  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  our  glorious  triumph  in  saving  the 
young  Republic  from  dissolution  has  made  it  the  event 
in  the  history  of  civil  government. 

It  may  have  seemed  to  us,  in  the  beginning,  to  be 
a  contest  only  to  assert  the  supremacy  of  the  General 
Government,  and  maintain  and  preserve  the  Union 
of  the  States.  Looking  at  it  now,  we  see  that  it  had 
a  much  broader  and  deeper  significance.  It  was  to 
determine  and  solve  the  question  whether  the  com- 
mon man  could  be  trusted  with  the  solemn  responsi- 
bility of  sovereignty  ;  whether  even-handed  justice 
to  every  man  was  not  a  stronger  element  of  power 
in  the  policy  of  civil  government  than  the  might 
of  monarchs  backed  by  standing  armies  and  ships 
of  war  ;  whether  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the 
citizen  is   not  a  better  safeguard  to  national  stabil- 


The  Toast— The  Citizen  Soldier.      469 

ity  than  well-equipped  fortifications  and  the  most  de- 
structive weapons  of  warfare. 

If  the  gifted  minds  who  have  tried  to  make  the 
neAv  generations  see  the  war,  with  its  tremendous 
import,  as  it  really  existed,  and  have  been  only  able 
to  dimly  outline  the  causes  that  brought  it  about  and 
the  spirit  with  which  it  was  conducted,  I  can  not  hope 
to  throw  a  single  additional  ray  of  light  on  the  picture. 
And  even  those  of  us  who  do  recall  these  stirring 
times,  who  enlisted  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of  our 
young  manhood,  did  not  then  begin  to  comprehend 
the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  times.  We  thought 
we  were  fighting  for  our  Constitution,  our  Union, 
and  our  flag.  We  see,  now,  that  in  doing  so  we  were 
making  battle  for  humanity  everywhere.  In  antici- 
pation that  our  Civil  War  would  destroy  our  national 
unity,  the  emperor  of  France  took  advantage  of  the 
disordered  condition  of  Mexico,  and  sent  Maximilian 
to  that  unhappy  Republic,  declared  him  the  emperor, 
and  held  him  on  the  throne  by  French  bayonets.  But 
the  success  of  the  Union  army  compelled  the  French 
to  evacuate  Mexico,  and  the  Mexicans  took  possession 
of  their  own  country,  caj)tured  Maximilian,  tried,  con- 
victed, and  shot  him  as  a  usurper,  and  re-established 
the  Republic  on  a  firmer  basis  than  before.  Since 
then  the  liberty-loving  people  of  France  have  driven 
Napoleon  into  exile,  and  established  a  Republic  on 
the  ruins  of  monarchy — a  Republic  which  grows 
stronger  every  day  in  the  love  and  confidence  of  the 
French. 

Is  it  too  much  to  assume  that  the  success  of  our 
armies  and    the  maintenance    of    national  authority 


470      The  Toast — The  Citizen  Soldier. 

made  Gladstone  the  friend  of  human  liberty  and 
caused  him  to  p:ive  a  listening  car  to  the  wrongs 
that  had  been  inflicted  on  Ireland,  making  his  last 
days  glorious  by  wresting  from  the  British  Empire 
the  rights  they  had  stolen  from  the  Irish  ?  Who  will 
be  bold  enough  to  assume  that  Dom  Pedro  would 
have  been  driven  from  Brazil,  and  the  Republic  es- 
tablished there,  had  we  failed  to  maintain  the  unity 
of  our  own  Republic?  That  our  country  stood  the 
strain  of  the  great  Civil  War,  and  came  out  without 
the  stain  of  oppression  on  her  escutcheon,  stronger 
and  purer  than  at  the  beginning,  has  awakened  and 
aroused  the  spirit  of  liberty  in  the  downtrodden 
everywhere.  The  laboring  classes  are  more  pro- 
nounced in  their  demands  for  their  rights.  The  abo- 
lition of  slavery  removed  the  stigma  that  chattel  man- 
hood had  placed  upon  labor.  We  now  see  that  the 
young  and  proud  emperor  of  Germany  concedes  that 
it  is  best  to  bow  his  imperial  ear  to  listen  to  the 
prayers  of  the  laboring  classes  of  his  people,  and  call 
a  council  to  devise  means  for  their  relief.  W^e  see  also 
the  czar  of  the  Russias  doubling  his  guard,  and 
trembling  with  guilty  fear  in  his  castle,  dreading  the 
wrath  of  his  oppressed  people  and  the  vengeance  of 
the  friends  of  the  Siberian  exile.  The  South  Ameri- 
can Republics  send  their  trusted  representatives  to 
gather  round  our  hearthstone,  to  promote  closer  com- 
mercial and  fraternal  relations,  and  to  learn  the  les- 
son here  and  imbibe  the  progressive  and  independent 
spirit  that  has  made  our  national  success  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  Union  soldier  did  not  know,  when  fighting 


The  Toast— The  Citizen  Soldier.      471 

to  save  the  Republic,  for  how  much  he  fought.  The 
magnitude  of  his  triumph  will  ouly  be  known  when 
despotism  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  man  everywhere 
stands  erect  in  his  own  liberated  and  glorious  man- 
hood. Could  the  soldier  of  the  Repu*blic  have  seen 
it  then,  as  We  see  it  now,  it  would  have  added  more 
patience  and  courage  in  defeat  and  heightened  his  joy 
in  the  hour  of  victory. 

But  I  am  digressing.  I  am  expected  to  say  some- 
thing about  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  the  incidents 
attending  its  inception.  It  is  generally  spoken  of  as 
a  sectional  strife,  a  conflict  between  North  and  South. 
But  there  is  nothing  in  latitude  and  longitude  to  cause 
a  disturbance.  It  was  not  the  location  of  the  par- 
ties that  made  them  meet  on  the  battle-field  as  ene- 
mies. It  has  been  conceded,  on  all  hands,  that  the 
system  of  human  bondage  that  British  cupidity  had 
fastened  on  the  Colonies  was  the  inciting  cause.  The 
slaveholder  would  tolerate  no  discussion  of  slavery  in 
the  territory  where  it  existed.  Some  brave  spirits  at- 
tempted it,  but  did  it  at  the  peril  of  their  lives.  So 
that  the  freedom  of  the  press  was  silent,  the  pulpit 
was  muzzled,  and  liberty  of  speech  on  the  public 
platform  was  absolutely  suppressed  in  the  domain  of 
slavery. 

The  monstrous  assumption  that  one  man  had  the 
right  to  buy  and  sell  another  man  as  a  chattel,  and 
that  no  discussion  of  it  could  be  tolerated,  would 
necessarily  be  resisted  by  a  high-spirited  and  liberty- 
loving  people.  It  was  an  incongruity  in  a  free  Re- 
public. Peace  was  only  preserved  and  war  deferred 
because  the  friends  of  the  slaveholder  held  the  reins 


472       The  Toast^The  Citizen  Soldier. 

of  Government.  When  the  people  in  their  sovereign 
capacity,  and  in  strict  compliance  with  the  Constitu- 
tion, took  the  National  Government  out  of  their 
hands,  then  the  slaveocracy  prepared  for  war.  Before 
open  hostilities  commenced,  the  American  Congress 
offered  them  such  terms  of  peace,  as,  if  accepted, 
would  liave  blackened  the  good  name  of  the  Repub- 
lic forever. 

Some  one  has  said :  "Against  stupidity,  even 
the  gods  are  powerless."  The  Secessionists  were 
too  mad  and  too  stupid  to  accept  the  terms ;  and 
from  that  hour  slavery  was  doomed.  The  Con- 
federates expected  sectional  pride  to  carry  the  whole 
South  against  the  Government,  and  party  pride  to  di- 
vide the  North,  and  thus  give  them  an  easy  victory. 
They  underestimated  the  patriotism  of  the  American 
people.  They  were  sadly  mistaken  in  both  of  their 
assumptions.  There  were  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  patriotic  men  in  the  South  who  loved 
the  whole  Union  more  than  a  section;  and  the  first 
gun  fired  at  the  flag  at  Fort  Sumter  snapped  all  party 
ties  in  the  North ;  the  partisan  became  the  patriot, 
and  men  of  all  parties  rushed  to  the  defense  of  the 
Nation  as  to  a  banquet.  The  few  who  attempted  to 
make  party  capital  out  of  the  Nation's  calamity  be- 
came so  infamous  that  it  is  not  probable  that  any 
will  ever  follow  their  example  in  the  future. 

I  am  well  aware  that  all  these  facts  have  been 
often  repeated ;  and  my  only  apology  for  again  refer- 
ring to  them  is,  that  the  topic  assigned  me  seems  to 
demand  it.  They  are  the  inexorable  facts  of  Ameri- 
can history,  that  give  the  terminal  point  to  American 


The  To  AST—The  Citizen  Soldier.      473 

slavery,  and  indicate  the  commencement  of  a  higher 
and  better  civilization. 

Twenty-nine  years  ago,  in  this  beautiful  month 
of  May,  the  capital  of  our  State  was  the  rendezvous 
of  men  who  had  come  from  the  farm,  the  Avorkshop, 
the  office,  and  the  pulpit,  to  maintain  the  Nation's 
honor  and  uphold  the  Nation's  flag.  Twice  as  many 
responded  to  the  President's  call  as  were  invited, — as 
would  doubtless  have  been  the  case  if  the  call  had 
been  for  ten  times  the  number.  The  companies  that 
were  accepted  were  envied  by  those  less  fortunate; 
and  they  were  mustered  into  the  service,  and  put  into 
camp;  and  the  work  of  regimental  organization  com- 
menced. The  citizen  became  the  soldier.  When  the 
private  put  oft'  the  long-tailed  coat,  and  put  on  the 
bob-tailed  roundabout,  and  discarded  the  slouched  or 
plug  hat  for  the  natty  cap,  and  the  officer  assumed 
the  double-breasted  blue  coat  garnished  with  brass 
buttons  and  epaulets,  and  secured  with  a  fiery  red 
silk  sash  and  bright  leather  sword-belt — to  which 
were  added  yellow  buckskin  gauntlets  on  his  hands  and 
arms,  and  his  hat  covered  with  plumes  and  feath- 
ers— and  the  faces  of  private  and  officer  were  bronzed 
by  the  wind  and  sun  of  the  drill-ground,  the  change 
was  something  amazing.  If  the  numerous  creditors 
left  behind  had  come  to  camp  then,  they  w^ould  not 
have  known  to  whom  to  present  their  accounts.  If 
the  citizen  could  have  acquired  the  duties  of  the 
soldier  as  easily  as  he  could  put  on  the  uniform,  it 
would  have  simplified  matters,  and  very  greatly  re- 
lieved the  situation. 

It  would  be  a  large  volume  that  would  contain  all 


474       The  Toast — The  Citizen  Soldier. 

the  absurd  sayings  and  doings  of  the  first  moutb  of  a 
volunteer  regiment's  existence.  The  disposition  to 
discuss  the  propriety  of  every  military  order,  and  the 
inclination  to  complain  about  the  regulations  of  camp- 
life,  was  a  ludicrous  exhibition  of  the  citizen  in 
soldier's  clothes.  The  inflated  mental  condition  of 
the  little,  shallow  man  who  had  by  some  accident  a 
commission,  and  the  humiliation  of  the  man  of  sense 
who  was  obliged  to  obey  his  military  superior,  pre- 
sented a  grotesque  picture.  The  independent  citizen, 
in  the  majesty  of  his  sovereignty  and  the  pride  of  his 
individuality,  had  never  before  been  required  to  obey 
the  dictum  of  another.  It  was  an  interesting  study 
in  camp-life  to  note  the  questioning  spirit  with  which 
he  met  these  new  and  extraordinary  demands  of  mil- 
itary life. 

But  he  had  given  up  his  business,  and  all  the 
air-castles  that  hope  and  expectation  had  created 
therefrom ;  he  had  given  up  home,  the  dearest  place 
on  earth ;  he  had  left  those  he  loved  in  tears ;  he  was 
now  called  upon  to  surrender  himself,  to  give  up  his 
individuality,  to  realize  the  accomplishment  of  the 
high  purpose  that  prompted  it  all — the  perpetuity  of 
the  Union  of  the  States  and  the  salvation  of 
his  country.  And  he  did  it — did  it  like  a  hero,  as 
he  was. 

The  citizen,  in  fighting  these  great  battles  with 
himself,  and  the  victory  his  patriotism  won  in  be- 
coming the  soldier  of  the  Republic,  displayed  as 
high  a  type  of  courage  and  as  noble  a  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  as  he  ever  did  afterwards  on  the  battle-field. 
As    his   patriotic   fire   transformed    the    independent 


The  Toast— The  Citizen  Soldier.      475 

citizen  into  the  self-denying  soldier,  let  the  same 
})raise  be  giv^en  for  his  enlistment  as  for  his  faith- 
ful service  to  the  end,  and  let  our  sentiment  be,  as 
it  will  be   of  all  coming  generations,  "All  honor 

TO   THE    CITIZEN    SOLDIER    OF   THE    REPUBLIC !" 


THE  TOAST— OUR  GUEST. 

BEING  "our  guest"  on  this  occasion,  it  would  not 
be  in  accord  with  the  rules  of  hospitality  even 
mildly  to  protest  against  the  requirement  to  respond 
to  a  toast  so  personal  to  myself.  Allow  me,  how- 
ever, to  say  that  it  is  not  comfortable  for  a  modest 
man  to  speak  of  himself,  and  an  intelligent  audience 
such  as  this  can  not  endure  egotism.  But  my  grate- 
ful aj)i)reciation  of  the  fact  that  I  am  thus  honored 
by  being  your  guest,  ought  to  make  any  demand  you 
choose  to  make  of  me  an  agreeable  one.  There  have 
been  guests  in  all  ages  and  times;  but  I  can  not  im- 
agine that  any  of  them,  }>ublic  or  private,  has  ever 
been  more  honored  or  made  happier  than  your  guest 
at  this  banquet,  which  you  have  so  generously  and 
kindly  given  him. 

Banquets  are  as  old,  yea  older,  than  civilization. 
Alexander  the  Great  and  Belshazzar  gave  great  feasts, 
and  banquets  were  common  with  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  And,  following  down  the  current  of  Amer- 
ican history  to  our  own  time,  we  find,  all  along  the 
line  of  the  centuries  and  ages,  that  banquets  have 
held  their  place,  while  many  other  customs  have  dis- 
appeared. I  imagine  that  they  have  been  thus  con- 
tinued   because    they   gratified    the    social    wants    of 


Responded  to  by  Mr.  Cumback  at  a  banquet  giv^en  in  his 
honor  by  his  neighbors. 
476 


The  Toast— Our  Guest.  477 

humanity,  and  they  will  exist  as  long  as  man  loves  his 
neighbor. 

Banquets  have  been  given  from  many  different 
reasons,  and  sometimes  to  compass  selfish,  political, 
or  personal  aims.  When  given  to  an  honored  guest, 
it  has  been  generally  because  the  guest  has,  by  some 
great  feat  in  war,  politics,  or  literature,  attracted  the 
attention  and  wonder  of  mankind — sometimes,  and 
indeed  often,  because  he  has  been  lifted  to  high  posi- 
tion in  the  State  or  the  Government,  or  promoted  to 
an  exalted  place  in  one  of  the  many  fraternal  organ- 
izations of  human  society.  The  banquet  is  thus 
made  the  chosen  medium  for  his  neighbors  and 
friends  to  express  their  gratification  and  appreciation 
of  his  good  fortune,  and  to  show  their  joy  at  his 
promotion.  But  even  then  it  has  happened,  in  some 
instances,  that  selfish  and  sinister  purposes  were  con- 
cealed in  the  hospitality.  But  not  so  here  and 
to-night. 

I  never  read,  heard,  or  knew  of  such  a  banquet 
as  this, — your  guest  a  quiet  private  citizen,  plodding 
along  day  by  day,  doing  n(»thing  extraordinary,  ac- 
complishing no  wonderful  works,  holding  no  position 
in  the  State  or  Government,  controlling  no  gifts  of 
office  or  patronage,  and  powerless  to  make  any  ade- 
quate return  for  the  great  honor  you  confer  upon 
him.  Most  banquets  exhibit  the  worthiness  of  the 
guest ;  this  one  proves  the  magnanimity  of  the  host — 
a  host  composed  of  my  neighbors,  with  whom  I  have 
lived  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century.  It  is  in- 
deed an  honor,  the  grateful  appreciation  of  which  I 
can  find  no  w^ords  to  express.     When  I  received  the 


478  The  Toast— Our  Guest. 

invitation  from  one  hundred  of  my  neighbors  to  be 
your  guest  on  this  occasion,  I  asked  myself  the 
question,  What  have  I  done  to  merit  this  distinction? 
I  coukl  find  no  answer.  But  now  I  see  that  you  in- 
tend, by  this  banquet,  to  let  me  know  that  I  have 
your  regard  and  confidence. 

The  most  successful  man,  after  all,  is  not  the  one 
who  wins  great  honors  from  the  State  or  builds  up  a 
colossal  fortune,  but  he  who  secures  the  love  and 
confidence  of  those  who  have  known  him  best  and 
longest.  You  have  given  this  banquet  that  I  might 
feel  that  my  uneventful  life  has  not  been  a  failure. 
I  regard  this  as  the  great  event  of  my  life ;  and  in 
my  own  name,  as  well  as  in  the  name  of  my  wife  and 
children,  I  give  you  the  sincere  thanks  of  a  grateful 
heart,  conscious  that  I  am  now  one  of  those  for- 
tunate ones  who  have  received  more  than  they 
deserved. 

Heaven  bless  your  generous  hearts !  This  is  a 
new  incentive  to  try  to  be  more  worthy  such  noble 
fellowship  as  this. 

"Let  us  live  for  those  who  love  us, 

For  those  who  know  us  true ; 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  us, 

And  awaits  our  spirits,  too ; 
For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance. 
For  the  justice  in  the  distance. 

And  the  good  that  we  may  do." 


LIBRARY  PRESENTATION. 

ADDRESS  OF  MAJOR  WALKER. 
/I  AJOE, — This  company    of  military    gentlemen 


i>  1  have  taken  possession  of  your  quarters  with  no 
hostile  intent.  However  formidable  our  appearance  in 
numbers  or  in  rank,  I  am  permitted  to  assure  you 
that  your  servants  are  true  men,  and  no  spies;  that  no 
assault  upon  your  person  or  your  liberty  is  intended; 
that  all  weapons  are  sheathed  save  those  of  wit,  all 
bonds  unthought  of  save  those  of  friendship,  and  all 
explosives  removed  save  the  bloodless  artillery  of 
Heidsic  or  the  Widow  Clicquot. 

It  is  my  pleasing  duty  on  this  occasion  to  be  the 
mjedium,  in  behalf  of  my  brethren  and  assistants  in 
the  Pay  Department  of  this  district,  through  which 
shall  pass  this  goodly  piece  of  furniture,  and  the 
books  which  fill  its  shelves,  into  hands  so  well  worthy 
to  receive  them  as  your  own.  The  gift  tells  its  own 
story  without  feeble  words  of  mine.  It  is  the  off- 
spring of  our  friendship  for  our  chief — a  friendship 
which  each  one  of  us  shares ;  which  binds  us  to  you 
by  more  than  official  ties,  of  which  your  official  re- 
lation to  us  has  been  simply  the  opportunity  and  not 
the  cause. 

It  is  difficult    for  me  to  address  you,  Major,  in 


Address  of  ^lajor  S.  A.  Walker,  and  response  on  the  pre- 
sentation of  a  library  to  Major  Cumback  by  the  oflBcers  re- 
porting to  him  for  duty. 

479 


480  Library  Presentation. 

terms  which,  out  of  this  circle,  would  not  be  consid- 
ered those  of  adulation ;  but  less  forcible  would  fail  to 
express  the  sentiments  of  the  donors  of  the  gift. 
We  feel  that  your  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
this  department  has  exhibited  remarkable  traits  of 
character  on  your  part.  You  can  say  to  one,  "  Go, 
and  he  goeth;"  to  another,  ''  Come,  and  he  coraeth;" 
but  we  are  all  witnesses  here  this  day  that  justice  is 
administered  with  an  even  hand,  and,  moreover,  that 
no  authority  or  pride  of  place  has  ever  been  able  to 
make  you  haughty  or  dictatorial.  You  are  the  most 
approachable  of  men  ;  no  mystery  of  sublime  author- 
ity surrounds  you,  nor  do  supercilious  looks  and 
lofty  bearing  ever  remind  us  that  our  presence  is  an 
impertinence. 

We  regard  this  freedom  from  vanity  a  rcmai'kable 
aud  worthy  trait  of  yours.  Major,  in  these  days  when 
every  staflF  officer  is  as  chary  of  his  presence  as  an 
Oriental  monarch,  aud  when  it  is  only  after  low 
obeisance  made  that  we  can  obtain  our  just  dues  of  a 
quartermaster. 

You  have  proved,  moreover,  that  the  work  of  your 
department  can  be  done,  and  well  done,  without 
a  punctilious  straining  for  official  regularity  and 
needless  waste  of  red  tape.  AVe  trust  you  have  found 
us  not  the  less  willing  to  obey  because  you  are  not 
always  straining  the  reins  of  authority  over  us.  And 
if  there  has  been  any  alacrity  for  duty  on  our  part, 
any  disposition  to  exceed  written  instructions  in 
furtherance  of  your  wishes,  it  has  all  been  because  we 
felt  we  were  called,  not  servants,  but  friends.  It  is 
easy  for  the   bride  at  the  altar  to  promise  to  honor 


Library  Presentation.  481 

and  obey  when  first  she  has  plighted  to  love.  We 
believe  our  readiness  of  service  has  a  similar  cause. 
If  friendship  can  thus  dignify  and  ennoble  dry  offi- 
cial relationships,  we  may  well  say,  "  Solem  e  mundo 
tollunt,  qui  tollunt  amicltiam." 

This  offering,  Major,  has  been  long  in  contem- 
plation. At  one  time,  since  its  inception,  we  feared 
that  the  machinations  of  friendly  politicians  in  your 
neighboring  State  might  make  this  gift,  contrary  to 
our  intentions,  a  parting  one.  It  is  a  matter  of  great 
satisfaction  to  each  one  of  us  to  think  that  their  loss 
is  our  exceeding  gain,  and  that  this  present  is  not  the 
memento  of  an  intercourse  ended,  but  the  emblem  of 
one  long  to  continue.  We  trust  that  the  nature  of 
our  present  you  will  regard  as  not  otherwise  than 
complimentary. 

Silver  and  gold,  in  forms  of  cunning  workman- 
ship, though  proper  emblems  of  the  purity  and  value 
of  our  regard,  are  always  fair  plunder  for  house- 
breakers, and,  moreover,  never  enter  into  and  make 
a  part  of  daily  life,  as  we  desire  our  memory  should. 
A  horse,  or  a  pair  of  them,  is  a  pleasant  thing,  both 
to  give  and  to  possess ;  but  ten  years  from  now, 
stumbling  with  age  and  burdened  with  equine  infirm- 
ities, such  a  gift  would  be  but  a  paltry  symbol  of  the 
friendship  we  trust  may  be  perpetual.  But  books — 
how  well  they  suit  the  cultivated  mind  of  him  who 
receives  them,  and  how  fitly  do  they  symbolize  the 
regard  of  those  who  bestow ! 

We   shall  be   omnipresent   with   you   henceforth. 

On  those  shelves  there  is  thought  for  every  mood, 

tense,  and   case   of  existence.     There   is  humor  and 

31 


482  Library  Presentation. 

wit,  should  you  be  despondent;  in  trouble,  there  is 
consolation;  counsel,  when  you  need  it;  and  a  ready 
fortification  in  facts  and  history,  for  use  in  the  forum 
or  at  the  bar.  Thus,  by  the  nature  of  our  gift,  have 
we  incorporated  ourselves  into  your  existence,  and 
made  Shakespeare,  and  Irving,  and  Prescott,  and  all 
the  worthies  of  literature,  suggestive  of  ourselves. 
For  thus  invading  the  sanctum  of  your  inner  life,  our 
pure  friendship  is  our  only  apology. 

And,  Major,  in  years  to  come,  when  the  weari- 
some days  of  war  are  over;  when  the  trying  and  un- 
satisfactory life  we  are  leading,  which  is  made  endur- 
able only  by  the  thought  that  others  are  suffering 
more  than  we,  and  that  the  sorrowing  land  puts  trials 
at  the  door  of  all ;  when  our  Nation's  deliverance  is 
accomplished, — 

"  When  the  mighty  West  shall  bless  the  East,  and  sea  shall 
answer  sea, 
And  mountain  unto  mountain  call,  'Praise  God,  for  we  are 
free !'  " — 

when  in  our  quiet  homes  by  the  Atlantic  shore,  by 
Northern  lakes,  or  by  the  winding  waters  of  the 
West,  we  shall  have  resumed  callings  we  have  will- 
ingly relinquished, — then,  what  a  pleasure  to  each 
one  of  us  the  thought  that  in  the  public  positions  to 
which  you  are  likely  to  be  called  we  are  still  remem- 
bered; and,  more  than  all,  in  the  private  sanctity  of 
the  home  which  your  presence  adorns,  and  where  you 
love  to  be — among  the  dearest  of  earth,  in  the  fond 
circle  of  your  family — we,  though  a  scattered  band, 
have,  by  virtue  of  this  evening's  gift,  a  place  in  your 
household,  a  home  in  your  memory. 


Library  Presentation.  483 

RESPONSE  OF  MAJOR  CUMBACK. 

Major  Walker  and  Gentlemen, — I  know 
your  generous  natures  too  well  to  expect  me  to  make 
a  suitable  response,  taken,  as  I  am,  at  this  great  dis- 
advantage. I  am  overwhelmed  with  the  conscious- 
ness of  my  unworthiness  to  receive  from  you  this 
maguificent  token  of  your  regard.  Your  kindness  to 
me  during  our  official  intercourse,  your  promptness 
and  cheerfulness  in  complying  with  all  my  wishes, 
and  your  disposition  to  throw  the  mantle  of  charity 
over  my  faults,  has  borne  with  it  the  very  comfort- 
ing assurance  that  I  have  your  confidence  and  regard. 
But  when  you  tender  to  me  this  splendid  symbol  of 
your  affection,  to  take  with  me  through  all  the  journey 
of  life,  keeping  me  constantly  with  you,  although  we 
may  be  separated,  you  touch  the  tenderest  chords  of 
my  heart,  and  I  am  prevented  from  making  such  a 
response  as  it  is  meet  that  I  should  make. 

I  can  only  say  that  I  accept,  with  more  gratitude 
than  I  can  now  express,  this  evidence  of  your  regard, 
pledging  you  that  I  will  endeavor  to  be  more  worthy 
your  esteem  by  a  faithful  performance  of  my  duties. 
The  Major  has  told  us  that  the  work  has  been  well 
done  in  this  district,  and  in  his  generosity  has  im- 
properly given  me  the  credit  for  it.  I  agree  with 
him  that  the  work  has  been  done  well,  but  to  you 
all,  and  not  to  me,  belongs  the  praise. 

Let  us  all,  gentlemen,  renew  our  vows  to  be  more 
vigilant  and  active  in  upholding  our  glorious  Gov- 
ernment in  this  her  hour  of  trial ;  and  when  the 
hoarse,  discordant  notes  of  War  shall  be  followed  by 


484  Library  Presentation. 

the  gentle  whisper  of  Peace,  if  our  names  are  not  as 
high  on  the  scroll  of  fame  as  others,  we  will  bear 
with  us  the  proud  consciousness  of  having  done  oui 
duty.     As  one  of  our  members  has  so  well  sung: 

"There  is  a  joy,  which,  midst  all  joy, 

Sits  crowned  upon  a  tlirone — 
The  only  one  without  alloy — 

It  springs  from  duty  done ; 
And  he  whose  throbbing  bosom  glows 

With  this  supreme  delight, 
Does  more  than  dream — he  sees,  he  knows ; 

The  future  makes  all  right." 

Gentlemen,  I  will  preserve  this  gift  just  as  it 
now  stands  before  me.  I  wall  take  it  w^ith  me  to  the 
home  I  love  so  well,  and  when  the  days  of  my  life 
are  numbered,  I  will  give  it  as  a  rich  legacy  to  my 
children,  teaching  them  to  honor  your  worth,  emu- 
late your  virtues,  and  to  be  like  you,  faithful  and 
vigilant  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty  demanded  of 
them  by  their  country. 


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